Charisma as an attribute of transformational leaders : what about credibility?

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model describing potential relationships among transformational leadership, charisma, credibility and organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is conceptual, based on a review of current transformational leadership, charisma and credibility literature. Findings: The authors present a model where credibility is an antecedent of transformational leadership; transformational leadership has a positive effect on organizational performance; and charisma positively moderates the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational performance. Research limitations/implications: A model to integrate credibility into transformational leadership research is proposed. Practical implications: This paper considers credibility as an important attribute of transformational leadership, and thus credibility may have significant implications for practitioners in leadership development strategies. Originality/value: Currently, there is a lack of research on the role of credibility in leadership. The authors discuss the importance of measuring leader credibility and generating a credibility scale.