What is charisma?

What is charisma? This is, indeed, a million dollar question. After seven decades of research scholars in this area have argued in 2016 that we still grapple with understanding what ‘charisma’ really means. In fact, the cultural usage of the term charisma, it can mean many things. Some scholars have even noted that the cultural meaning of charisma is so broad that even a perfume can nowadays be ‘charismatic.’ Does the science of charisma help us any further? In Max Weber’s (1947) seminal definition, a charismatic individual was set apart from ordinary group members and endowed with almost supernatural qualities. Since then, the charisma construct has been reworked and redefined many times in the fields of Psychology, Business and Sociology. For some charisma became a phenomenon which resides essentially in the eyes of beholders who, as followers, make attributions of charisma, either stemming from implicit (i.e., lay) theories of charisma and/or elicited emotions of awe and admiration. Taken to its extreme, such receiver-based definitions of charisma imply that followers can grow so fond of their own leader, that they start to tell heroic stories, legends, and myths about this leader, to the extent that these myths grow to have only little factual basis in a leader’s actual behavior.

Some scholars have even noted that the cultural meaning of charisma is so broad that even a perfume can nowadays be ‘charismatic.’

For this reason, scholars have reoriented the locus of charisma back to the ‘sender’, arguing that charisma is a form of signaling that I am “leadership material” and have the qualities to be followed by others. Antonakis and colleagues argue that such charisma signaling which happens through value-laden, emotion-laden, and symbolic communication, which comes down to the rhetorical use of values, feelings and framing techniques in oratory performances. Taken to its extreme, such ‘sender’-based definitions may even imply charisma to be a carefully staged rhetorical performance, or a meticulously crafted public persona. Yet, other scholars have argued that charisma is neither exclusively located in the ‘sender’ nor the ‘receiver’ of charisma signals. Instead, charisma should be seen as an emergent and precarious state of resonance (or ‘momentum’) between a leader and followers, resulting from a sequence of sending and receiving charismatic signals. If this does not dazzle the reader, I have not even started to discuss performative definitions of charisma that put the subject and context center stage (e.g., how superheroes, glimpses of the Divine, and ‘corporate saviors’ emerge in context).

Assessing these definitions, a cynic might say that the many redefinitions of the charisma construct have, altogether, created a confusing literature where contradicting assumptions and disagreements on very fundamental and important issues persist. I just wrote a scientific article about this (published open access in 2024 in the journal Human Resource Management Review). In this article I use some philosophical arguments to explain why scholars keep going in circles in trying to define what charisma means. In this post, I want to bring all these contemporary meanings of charisma back into conversation with the original, Biblical meaning of the term ‘charisma’. This is based on my own insights and those inspired by a current research project with our research associate (and Ph.D in Theology at Cambridge University) Srecko Koraljia, here at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. For space, I can only treat the highlights of the things found so far.

The term charisma was not invented by Max Weber, it is actually taken from the New Testament. The term charisma is often found in conjunction with the word “spirit” (e.g., “spiritual gifts” in I Corinthians 14) and in conjunction with doing (leadership) activities for the Kingdom of God. One of most prominent examples of charisma is prophesying (I Corinthians 14: 1), which is to foretell the future, to speak a new message from God to the people. This is, in and of itself, a nice example how an inherently spiritual aspect of Kingdom-enhancing leadership, becomes ‘secularized’ in a public discussion that seeks to strip the charisma concept from its spiritual origin (see our first podcast on spiritual leadership). This is, I think, part of the reason why scholars keep going in circles when trying to define it. To use a Tolkien quote: “it wants to return to its Master; I wants to be found”. Pun intended.

The term charisma is often found in conjunction with the word “spirit” (e.g., “spiritual gifts” in I Corinthians 14) and in conjunction with doing (leadership) activities for the Kingdom of God.

Charisma comes from the stem ‘charis’, which means literally means ‘grace’ or a ‘gift’, taken from the culturally influential Vulgate (Latin) translation of this term. While this is true, a deeper inspection reveals something even more interesting. The -ma ending, means making a noun out of verb, something which would in English be like pay-ment or ‘steward-ship. Accordingly, the word charis-ma therefore means the enactment of grace. Wow!

Grace is a big term in the Bible. It means being bestowed by undeserved favor. Since the coming of Jesus some 2000 years ago, we live in an era of grace, which means that everyone can be filled with the Spirit of God if we accept that Jesus is the Son of God and invite Jesus to into our hearts. The Spirit of God then starts to activate (already present) giftings in our innermost being that will help us fulfill our destinies. For this reason, ‘grace’ also means being bestowed with an inner gifting, that is, an innate (partly natural, partly supernatural) ability to do something, namely something that builds church community in a narrow sense, and the Kingdom of God in a broader sense.

The nice thing about the meaning of charisma in the Bible, is that it is not confined to any single activity, (e.g., public speaking). It means quite generally a (super)natural gifting to do anything that serves others and builds the Kingdom of God. In I Corinthans 14, the apostle Paul details how there is a variety of gifts, just as a body has different members that each have their function and these members must cooperate to be effective. Some have a gift of knowledge (i.e., a supernatural ability to knowing things), others can organize well, others have a gift of discernment, while others are great at comforting others, and so forth. This is interesting, because it links the concept of charisma strongly with one’s (God-given) destiny, which details a particular place, actions, and role (i.e., a ‘calling’) that God has thought out for you, even before you were conceived in the mother’s womb (Ephesians 2; Jeremiah 1; Isaiah 50; Psalm 139). Everyone has a unique destiny that fits with your abilities, that fits with the will of God for your life, and with the things that you desire (are fun) to do. All these meanings of destiny are captured by the single word ‘chafats’ in Hebrew. In that sense, being charismatic would mean walking in your calling, and living out your destiny, such that it shows that you love what you are doing, because it fits with your God-given desires and abilities, with who they are (made to be). You sometimes see people ‘shine’ while doing things (see for further explanations of ‘glory’ below). People naturally want to follow and be around such people. This is the spiritual root behind the attractive, followership enticing aspect of charisma.

The Spirit of God then starts to activate (already present) giftings in our innermost being that will help us fulfill our destinies.

If we dig even deeper, we find that the deeper root of this attractive quality is God Himself. In the Hebrew language, there are two major terms for the ‘glory’ of God, one (kabod) emphasizing His importance (His riches, honor, weightiness, all-consuming presence), and the other emphasizing His attractiveness (‘tiferet’, i.e., the beauty, royalty, majesty / radiance, power / dominion, exalted status, holiness, and praise). When you read the Bible, you often see references that God Himself wants to be(come) our beauty. In 2 Corinthians 3: 18 saint Paul writes that the Holy spirit transforms us into the image of Jesus ‘from glory to glory’. Psalm 89: 18 reads: “For You [God] are the glory [tiferet] of their strength.” Psalm 149: 4 reads: “God will beautify the humble with salvation”. The word used here for ‘salvation’ is “Yeshua” (i.e., Jesus). We are beautified by the Spirit of God in the image of Jesus. This is a deep mystery. When the Holy Spirit starts working with us, and through us, we enter in to a process of purification, which rids our psyche from alien encroachments (sin) and transforms in our character into the image of Jesus. The result is a return to a pure status which is a state of inner beauty, a state where God can shine through us, like a light that shines through a lamp. When Job was restored from the results of his suffering, and got double for his trouble from God, one of daughters’ names was “Keren Hapuch” (Job 42: 14), which can mean “horn of transformation”, or “horn of beautification”. A horn is a symbol of the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a master beautifier, and the very source of our charisma. What pure charisma exudes, therefore, is God himself.