The charismatic group approaches the problem of controlling experience by identifying an all-good, all-powerful charismatic leader whose omnipotence, it is hoped, will save the group’s members from their fears and anxieties and each other. The result is a group or an organization that is controlled and dominated by its leader. The leader provides direction to and rewards for followers although he or she is also willing to punish members for defying or challenging his or her direction and need for control. Questioning authority is not desirable and once again self-differentiation not approved of by the leader is not encouraged.

The leader’s power over organization members, it is hoped, permits him or her to maintain control of everyone and internal and external events, thereby minimizing the distressing experience of excessive anxiety that organization members seek to avoid. Problems that do occur are generally interpreted as the leader still not having enough power and control or that group or organization members are not sufficiently supportive of their leader by being loyal, hardworking and submissive. The group culture is ideally one of unquestioningly following every instruction issued and maintaining absolute faith in the leader’s judgement.

The leader, however, may also use this leadership opportunity to fulfill his or her narcissistic needs to feel powerful and admired. He or she may locate zealous admirers within the group and elevate them to important roles close to him or her. Observation of many charismatic leaders has led me to understand that there is a perverse leader/follower dynamic at work here. The leader, by assuming responsibility for just about everything, ends up placing him- or herself under immense pressure to perform and fulfill the expectations and fantasies followers hold for him or her. It is also the case for many of these leaders that they tacitly understand no amount of power and authority is sufficient to provide the absolute control of anxiety followers desire. As a result, the pressure to meet follower expectations contains a debilitating quality. The leader’s suffering, therefore, can be thought of as being ameliorated by the devoted service of some followers who love, adore, care and sacrifice for and otherwise service their leader.

Yet another aspect of this group dynamic is that the grandiose view of the leader held by many followers promotes grandiose self-experience on the part of the leader that may lead to him or her feeling overly powerful and admired. The leader unconsciously identifies with the many follower projections. This self-experience leads to feeling that rules of fair play and civility do not apply to him or her. The leader may think nothing of humiliating a follower or perhaps seeking sexual favors that may be more than readily supplied by some followers who are flattered by the attention and consciously or unconsciously aspire to unite with their leader. The leader may also arbitrarily make and break rules and even laws of the larger society. The combination of the excessive performance pressure combined with the grandiosity tends to make the charismatic leader bigger than life. The creation of a band of loyal, unquestioning followers (sycophants) is a natural outcome of these leader/follower dynamics that further reinforces the grandiosity by constantly providing the leader narcissistic supplies.

Yet another likely outcome of the experience of charismatic leadership is that the leader politicizes his or her leadership by avoiding making tough decisions that may alienate some followers and create enemies. Additionally, the leader, who strives to conserve his or her position, power and role and accompanying follower admiration, cannot risk making too many wrong decisions that call into question his or her omnipotence. As a result a paradox develops in which the leader is at once seemingly all-powerful and at the same time powerless relative to the group.

In this regard, the charismatic leader is able to make rapid changes in the direction and operation of the group or organization to take advantage of opportunities (opportunism). Group members for the most part do not seriously question or resist rapid and at times contradictory changes, thereby making the organization fast on its collective feet. This outcome is a highly desirable attribute assuming the organization is moving in the right direction. However, at the same time, the group is vulnerable to being led in the wrong direction as is illustrated by Enron, WorldCom, and Andersen, the group suicide at Jonestown and other equally horrendous recent events such as the Waco deaths. Additionally, rampant opportunism can lead to isolated successes at the expense of fulfilling a larger more unified vision for the organization that promises to secure future competitiveness.

It is inevitable, however, that the charismatic leader cannot sustain his or her “god-like” presence in the group. Eventually the leader is found to have feet of clay. Mistakes are made. Group and organizational performance is not uniformly even. These realizations evoke fear on the part of the leader that he or she will not succeed in the task of protecting group members from each other and from bad feelings arising from group membership. Ultimately, aggression from some of the more frustrated and left-out group members or a superior may lead to the symbolic murder of the leader. A new leader may renew the cycle of charismatic group life or lead the group to an alternate group form as a part of overall group dissatisfaction with charismatic leadership.