Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Using data from the Pew Religious Identity and Influence Survey we conduct an exploratory analysis and comparison of charismatic Protestants and their non-charismatic counterparts. Using a series of forced-choice self-identity questions we separate charismatic respondents from their non-charismatic counterparts in the four Protestant traditions. The charismatics are further divided between Pentecostal and non-Pentecostal affiliates given their differing histories and orientations to denominational commitment. Using this schema we found that charismatic non-Pentecostal Protestants are significantly present primarily among the Evangelical, Mainline, and Other Protestant labels, and mostly affiliate with six denominations. They are typically younger and more racially diverse demographically, and reflect more conservative or orthodox religious attitudes and behaviors. However, this higher level of commitment is relative to their non-charismatic counterparts within a religious tradition since their Pentecostal brethren were found to be even more conservative in their attitudes and behaviors.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The amounts of leadership studies are voluminous. From major bookstores to airport kiosks and bookstands, the most recent titles in leadership are marketed as the new and the hottest bestsellers. Waves after waves of books and articles drench the leadership literature landscape. Readers, and writers, seem to never get enough of analyzing and seeking to understand this enticing, yet elusive, concept – leadership.

Recent interest, however, seems to center on the idea of paradoxes, contradictions, and dialectics at leadership level in organizations (Fairhurst, 2000; Barge, 1996). Often leaders are faced with radically opposing alternatives that, sometimes, both seem to be reasonable and necessary. These types of situations are fraught with tensions and dilemmas for the leaders.

In my research I seek to unpack the complexities that leaders are faced with in these types of choice situations between diametrically opposed options (i.e. trust-distrust, competition-cooperation, rational-emotional, dependence-independence, and change-stability). I believe that a dialectics theoretical approach holds much promise for scholars and practitioners in elucidating the way leaders manage tensions in organizational settings in order to benefit the respective organizations and reach its goals. In this essay, to be specific, I look at how charismatic and transformational leaders deal with tensions, contradictions, and dualities at a leader-follower level.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Within the context of the upcoming US elections and the national security crisis, we examine the determinants and effects of charismatic political leadership, including the consequence of perceived charismatic leadership for candidate evaluations.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore the role that a charismatic figure plays in social movements. Using two prominent leaders--Stephen Bantu Biko and Martin Luther King, Jr.--as case studies, I examine the manner in which charisma is historically understood and explained in the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) of South Africa and the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) of the United States. In addition, I attempt to provide counterarguments to four traditional charismatic leadership frameworks. More specifically, I address and challenge the following theoretical premises: (1) Charisma is an innate characteristic (2) A single charismatic leader is necessary for movement success (3) A charismatic figure becomes an indispensable, almost “God-like,” role model for people to emulate, and (4) The death of a charismatic leader signals the inevitable decline of the movement. Finally, my thesis attempts to further complicate these perspectives by suggesting that charisma be understood as a form of cultural capital. This explanation, I hope, will add another layer to the current literature on social movements.