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.