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Selecting Top-Level Leaders : The Effect of Charisma Under Conditions of Attributional Ambiguity
AOM, Academy of Management 2014
One stream of leadership theory suggests leaders are evaluated via inferential observer processes that compare the fit of the target to a prototype of an ideal (charismatic) leader. Attributional theories of leadership suggest that evaluations depend on knowledge of past organizational performance, which is attributed to the leader’s skills. We develop a novel theory showing how inferential and attributional processes interact to simultaneously explain top-level leader selection. We argue that
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observers will mostly rely on attributional mechanisms when performance signals clearly indicate good or poor performance outcomes. However, under conditions of attributional ambiguity (i.e., when performance signals are unclear), they will mostly rely on inferential processes. Using a business context and an experimental design, we show that CEO charisma and firm performance interact in predicting leader selection. The concept of attributional ambiguity has important implications for extending leadership theory in that strength of performance signals act as a “litmus test” by reducing the effect of charisma on selection decisions.
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