Charismatic, Intelligent or Ethical Leadership?

“Leadership: Enhancing
the Lessons of Experience”
By Richard Hughes, Robert Ginnett
& Gordon Curphy
Irwin McGraw-Hill, 1999


What would you rather have – a leader with charisma or a leader with “IQ”?

Someone has thus oversimplified the choice of the kind of leader we need in this country. The person speaking was no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo presenting herself as a leader gifted with intelligence. And the person alluded to as “charismatic” is ousted President and now aging actor Joseph Ejercito Estrada, with the obvious implication that he is wanting in gray matter.

“Are we limited to such choices?” someone asked with obvious disillusionment. Friend Perfecto Yasay Jr. – known for charisma and intelligence -- told a gathering: “It is not enough to have charisma or IQ; we need one governed by high ethical principles to lead this country.”

“Should the President even have to emphasize that she has high IQ? Isn’t it proper to simply show such intelligence in her decision making, rather than talk about it?”

Obviously, much dust has flown due to this Presidential remark, and the idea of leadership has again invaded our coffee shops and cocktail bars – and solicited and unsolicited interpretations have been exchanged.

There is a book, “Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience,” which asks questions, provides answers from scholars and practitioners – and ends up with the thought that, indeed, “leadership is a complex phenomenon.”

This is supposed to be a textbook on leadership for graduate management students, but it doesn’t read like one. It wastes no time driving headlong into controversial topics. Part I, for example deals with the topic: “Leadership Is a Process, Not a Position.” This immediately opens hot subjects on “interaction” and on the need for “education.”


“Focus on the Leader,” the main topic of Part II, dwells on power and influence, ethics and values, intelligence and creativity, leadership behavior and – lo and behold! – “charisma and transformational leadership.”

On Charisma, the book says: “The basis of authority in the charismatic authority system comes from society’s belief in the exemplary characteristics of the leader. Charismatic leaders are thought to possess superhuman qualities or powers of divine origin which set them apart from ordinary mortals.”

Charismatic leaders become bigger than life, amplified by television and, as applied to our local story, exaggerated by action movies! Thus was born the Erap myth of invincibility and charm.

The book cited as examples Ayatollah Khomeini and Mahatma Gandhi. “These individuals wielded a considerable amount of power in Iran and India because of who they were, not because they were the first-born sons or had occupied a position that allowed them to wield power,” the authors say.

But the book also underscores the need for intelligence: “Virtually every institution in our society today faces dynamic and complex challenges. It is no wonder then, that organizations of all sorts are placing an ever greater premium on hiring smart and innovative leaders. It is certainly easy to think of particular leaders who are known for their superior intellect.”

To illustrate the intellectual leader, the book cites former Senator Bill Bradley and President Bill Clinton who were Rhodes Scholars, “one indication of high intelligence.” What about a doctorate in economics from the University of the Philippines?

Charisma, or our limited view of it, has led us to elect a President who would subsequently be ousted because of a failure to govern. Intelligence was possessed by a bar topnotcher who later plunged the country to its darkest days under martial law.

Perhaps, we need a moral leader, a friend of mine volunteers.

The book has something to say about that too. “Leaders face ethical dilemmas at all levels, and the best leaders recognize and face them with a commitment to doing what is right, not just what is expedient.” This is equivalent to saying we need statesmen as leaders, not politicians.

Is politics bad? During lunch with former Senate President Jovito Salonga, he overheard one saying that politics is bad. His rejoinder was both illuminating and edifying. He said: “Politics can be ennobling.” And he recalled that momentous day when he decided he would work quietly but resolutely for the dismantling the U.S. military bases, using the ways of politics. The rest is history. We thus concluded that politics can actually be redeemed from its dirty manifestations and machinations.

“Doing what is right sounds deceptively simple,” the book points out. “Sometimes it will take great moral courage to do what is right, even when the right action seems clear. At other times, though, leaders face ethically complex issues that lack simple black-and-white answers.”

The book brings you, the reader, to a world of leaders – and managers – subjecting them to analysis and allowing space for the “x” factor. It is also a book that offers personality sketches of leaders, quotable quotes about leadership, psychological analyses on what makes leaders tick, and a great number of case studies to illuminate theories and observations.

This book will serve as a much-needed prism by which we view national and global leaders. Through such many-sided prism, we can identify attributes, place leaders in context, and conclude that with such a combination we will have one great leader!

Leaders do not easily fit into neat formulas or tidy frameworks of analysis. There is much room for that indescribable factor and that unexpected heroic moment. The book also recognizes that. Nonetheless, we will come away more prepared to view our leaders with trained, not moist, eyes.

A strong case is here presented that leaders driven by high ethical standards have what it takes for “greatness.”

The book stresses: “Leaders set a moral example to others that becomes the model for an entire group or organization, for good or bad. Leaders who themselves do not honor truth do not inspire it in others. Leaders mostly concerned with their own advancement do not inspire selflessness in others. Leaders should internalize a strong set of ethics, principles of right conduct or a system of moral values.”

Charisma or IQ? Judging by the book, not one of them figures. This book is highly recommended to believers and non-believers in moral leadership. It is, after all, the way to go.