APA Citation
Fanelli, A., & Misangyi, V. (2006). Bringing Out Charisma: CEO Charisma and External Stakeholders. *Academy of Management Review*, 31(4), 1049-1061.
Summary
This organizational research examines how CEO charisma is constructed through interactions with external stakeholders, including media, analysts, and investors. Fanelli and Misangyi demonstrate that charismatic leadership is not just an innate trait but a social phenomenon created through impression management, strategic communication, and the manipulation of external perceptions. The study reveals how organizational leaders cultivate and maintain their charismatic image through carefully crafted public presentations and stakeholder relationships.
Why This Matters for Survivors
Understanding how narcissistic leaders manufacture their charismatic appeal helps survivors recognize the calculated nature of manipulation they experienced. This research validates that the "spell" of a charismatic abuser isn't due to survivor weakness, but rather the abuser's systematic impression management skills. Recognizing these patterns helps survivors understand their experience within broader social dynamics of influence and control.
What This Research Establishes
Charisma is often manufactured through strategic impression management rather than being an authentic leadership quality. Narcissistic leaders systematically craft their public persona to appeal to external stakeholders’ expectations and desires.
External stakeholder relationships are crucial for maintaining the narcissistic leader’s charismatic image. These leaders invest heavily in managing perceptions among media, investors, and other external audiences who provide validation and support.
The construction of charismatic appeal involves calculated communication strategies and performance. Research reveals that what appears as natural charm is often the result of deliberate manipulation of social interactions and public presentations.
Narcissistic leaders excel at reading and responding to what audiences want to see. Their ability to mirror expectations and present an idealized version of leadership contributes significantly to their perceived charismatic appeal.
Why This Matters for Survivors
If you were initially drawn to your abuser’s charismatic personality, this research validates that you weren’t naive or foolish. Narcissistic individuals are often exceptionally skilled at manufacturing an appealing persona that masks their true nature. Understanding this helps you recognize that the “spell” you fell under was the result of calculated manipulation, not your weakness or poor judgment.
The charm that initially attracted you was likely a carefully constructed performance designed to appeal to your specific needs and desires. Narcissistic abusers are skilled at impression management—they know how to present themselves in ways that seem irresistible. This isn’t authentic charisma but rather a strategic tool for gaining control and securing narcissistic supply.
Recognizing how narcissistic individuals systematically create their charismatic appeal can help you trust your current instincts about people. When someone’s charm feels too polished or performative, when their public persona doesn’t match their private behavior, these may be warning signs of manufactured charisma rather than genuine leadership or partnership qualities.
This understanding also helps explain why others may still be under your abuser’s spell. The narcissistic individual likely maintains different versions of their charismatic persona for different audiences, making it difficult for others to see what you experienced behind closed doors. Your awareness of this dynamic can inform your expectations about validation from others who haven’t witnessed the abuse.
Clinical Implications
Therapists working with survivors should validate that attraction to initially charismatic abusers reflects the abuser’s manipulation skills rather than the survivor’s poor judgment. Understanding how narcissistic individuals manufacture charismatic appeal helps contextualize the survivor’s experience within broader social dynamics of influence and control.
Assessment of current and past relationships should include exploration of how partners present themselves to external audiences versus private behavior. Discrepancies between public persona and private conduct can indicate impression management tactics commonly used by narcissistic individuals to maintain their image while engaging in abusive behavior.
Treatment planning should address how manufactured charisma differs from authentic connection and leadership. Helping survivors develop skills for recognizing performative charm versus genuine interpersonal qualities supports their ability to form healthier relationships and avoid future manipulation.
Psychoeducation about impression management and charismatic manipulation provides survivors with a framework for understanding their experience that reduces self-blame and increases awareness of narcissistic tactics. This knowledge empowers survivors to trust their instincts when something feels “too good to be true” or overly polished in future relationships.
How This Research Is Used in the Book
Chapter 3 draws on this organizational research to help readers understand how narcissistic individuals systematically craft their appealing persona, particularly in the early stages of relationships or when seeking to impress new audiences. The book connects workplace manipulation tactics to intimate relationship dynamics.
“Just as narcissistic CEOs carefully manage their image with investors and media while treating employees poorly, the narcissistic partner you fell in love with was likely performing a calculated version of charm designed to secure your attachment. This wasn’t authentic connection—it was impression management with an intimate audience of one.”
Historical Context
This research emerged during the mid-2000s as organizations grappled with understanding how charismatic leaders like those involved in major corporate scandals had successfully manipulated stakeholder perceptions while engaging in destructive behaviors. The study contributed to growing awareness of how leadership charisma could be manufactured rather than authentic, influencing subsequent research on corporate narcissism and toxic leadership.
Further Reading
• Babiak, P., & Hare, R. D. (2006). Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work. An examination of how manipulative individuals succeed in corporate environments through manufactured charm.
• Rosenthal, S. A., & Pittinsky, T. L. (2006). Narcissistic leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 617-633. Research connecting narcissistic personality traits to charismatic leadership styles.
• Galvin, B. M., Waldman, D. A., & Balthazard, P. (2010). Visionary communication qualities as mediators of the relationship between narcissism and attributions of leader charisma. Personnel Psychology, 63(3), 509-537. Investigation of how narcissistic leaders use communication strategies to enhance their charismatic appeal.
About the Author
Angelo Fanelli is a management researcher specializing in organizational behavior and leadership dynamics, with particular expertise in how leaders construct and maintain their public personas.
Vilmos F. Misangyi is an organizational theorist whose work focuses on strategic leadership, corporate governance, and the social construction of executive reputation and influence.
Historical Context
Published during the mid-2000s corporate scandal era, this research emerged as organizations grappled with understanding how charismatic leaders like Enron's executives had manipulated stakeholder perceptions while engaging in destructive behaviors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Research shows narcissistic leaders systematically craft their charismatic image through strategic impression management, carefully controlled public presentations, and manipulation of external stakeholder perceptions.
Charismatic narcissists are skilled at reading and responding to what external audiences want to see, creating an appealing persona that masks their true manipulative intentions.
Not all charismatic leaders are narcissistic, but narcissistic individuals often excel at manufacturing charismatic appeal through calculated impression management rather than authentic leadership qualities.
Manufactured charisma often involves inconsistency between public persona and private behavior, over-reliance on external validation, and charm that feels performative rather than genuine.
External stakeholders provide the narcissistic supply and validation that narcissistic leaders crave, while also being easier to manipulate than those who know them intimately.
Yes, recognizing how narcissistic individuals systematically create charismatic appeal helps survivors understand they weren't foolish for being initially attracted to their abuser's charm.
Many narcissistic leaders become so invested in their manufactured persona that the line between their strategic impression management and their self-concept becomes blurred.
Media and external stakeholders often amplify charismatic leaders' carefully crafted messages, creating a feedback loop that reinforces the narcissistic leader's inflated self-image and public appeal.