Images in Words: Presidential Rhetoric, Charisma, and Greatness

Abstract

We are indebted to Daniel K. Brass and three anonymous reviewers for their guidance during the editorial process and to a host of colleagues for their feedback, conversations, and encouragement over the course of this project. Send correspondence to Cindy Emrich, Krannert Graduate School of Management, Purdue University, 1310 Krannert Building, West Lafayette, IN 47907-131 0; e-mail: cindy~mgmt.purdue.edu.We analyzed two sets of U.S. presidents' speeches to determine whether their propensities to convey images in words were linked to perceptions of their charisma and greatness. As predicted, presidents who engaged in more image-based rhetoric in their inaugural addresses were rated higher in charisma (Study 1). Presidents who engaged in more image-based rhetoric in speeches that historians considered their most significant ones were rated higher in both charisma and greatness (Study 2). Together, these findings suggest that the successful articulation and enactment of a leader's vision may rest on his or her ability to paint followers a verbal picture of what can be accomplished with their help.sThe ability to articulate a compelling vision of a bright future is the sine qua non of charisma and greatness, two key outcomes for leaders. Charisma has been described as a magical ability (Etzioni, 1961), a certain personality characteristic (Weber, 1947), and a powerful aura (Willner, 1984). Though descriptions of charisma abound, there is consensus that charismatic leaders inspire followers "to perform above and beyond the call of duty" (House, Spangler, and Woycke, 1991: 364) by appealing to their emotions and enduring motives rather than by controlling their access to material rewards and resources. Greatness has been described as successful performance (Murray and Blessing, 1983, 1994) and general prestige or reputation (Maranell, 1970). In practice, it has been operationalized quite simply as "performance in office, omitting everything done before or after" (Bailey, 1966: 24). Much is known about charisma and greatness. Less is known, however, about how leaders articulate a vision that is sufficiently compelling to evoke attributions of charisma and greatness among their followers.House and Shamir (1993) examined eight theories of charismatic, visionary, and transformational leadership with the goal of distilling them into a single, overarching theory of charisma. Eleven behavioral dimensions emerged from this examination, but only one-visionary behavior-was represented in all eight theories. Visionary behavior involves the articulation of "an ideological goal ... that emphasizes fundamental values such as beauty, order, honesty, dignity, and human rights" (House and Shamir, 1993: 97). The skillful use of rhetoric is believed to be critical to the charismatic leader's visionary behavior (

Unlocking the mask: a look at the process by which authentic leaders impact follower attitudes and behaviors

“…To date, no one has attempted to develop a conceptual framework of leadership and followers' emotional states (McColl-Kennedy & Anderson, 2002). This is surprising because many of the new theories of leadership such as charismatic and transformational leadership emphasize the emotional attachment of followers to the leader (Bass, 1985, Emrich et al, 2001and Gardner & Avolio, 1998. For example, House, Woycke, and Fodor (1988) argued that what differentiates charismatic from non-charismatic leaders is that charismatic leaders have their major effects on the emotions and selfesteem of followers, as opposed to non-charismatic leaders, whose primary effects are exerted on followers' cognitions and abilities.…”

Institutional Vision at Proprietary Schools: Advising for Profit

“…These specific linguistic components contribute to the acceptance and adoption of ideas as well as the likelihood of the concepts being distributed to others by stakeholders. These qualities have been used to explain the effectiveness of national health-care communication campaigns (Greenhalgh, Robert, Macfarlane, Bate, & Kyriakidou, 2004;Haider & Kreps, 2004), public policy programs (McLendon, Heller, & Young 2005;Valente, 1993), crisis management (Bligh, Kohles, & Meindl, 2004), political persuasion (Emrich, Brower, Feldman, & Garland, 2001;Holladay & Coombs, 1994), and business and marketing strategies (Mahajan, Muller, & Bass, 1990;Sevcik, 2004).…”

Does talking the talk help walking the walk? An examination of the effect of vocal attractiveness in leader effectiveness

“…We argue that a person's vocal attractiveness is a relevant aspect of the leader prototype. Previous research on leaders' communication has shown that the use of images conveyed in words strongly influences follower perceptions (Emrich, Brower, Feldman, & Garland 2001) and that the manner in which images are conveyed in political speeches can have impacts on attributions of leadership quality through follower reactions such as trust in the leader (Conger, Kanungo, & Menon 2000). However, to the best of our knowledge, no research has investigated the effects of vocal attractiveness on perceptions of leadership effectiveness.…”