Direct and indirect effects of three core charismatic leadership components on performance and attitudes

On the basis of 7 charismatic and transformational leadership theories, 3 core components(vision, vision implementation through task cues, and communication style) were identified. A laboratory simulation manipulated the 3 components in a completely crossed experimental design, where 2 trained actors portrayed the leader. Participants were 282 students in upper level business classes who performed a simulated production task. The vision of high quality weakly affected performance quality but significantly affected many attitudes. Vision implementation, in the form of task cues, affected performance quality and quantity. Charismatic communication style affected only the perception of charisma. Mediation was not found; rather, an exploratory path analysis found a 2-part causal sequence, where the vision of quality and vision implementation each affected self-set goals and self-efficacy, which, in turn, affected performance.