Perceptions of leader charisma and effectiveness: The effects of vision content, delivery, and organizational performance

This study examined the effects of vision content, delivery and organizatio nal performance on perceptions of leader charisma and effectiveness. Subjec ts included 304 undergraduates who were presented videotaped speeches by a bogus CEO of a software company. A 2 X 2 X 2 design was employed in which m essage content (visionary/non-visionary), delivery (strong/weak), and organ izational performance (high/low) were manipulated. A modified, 7-item versi on of Meindl and Erlich's (1988) Romance of Leadership Scale (RLS-D) served as a covariate. A MANCOVA analysis indicated significant effects of delive ry, content, and organizational performance on both perceived leader charis ma and effectiveness. The RLS-D was unrelated to either dependent variable as a covariate. The results suggest that strength of delivery is an especia lly important determinant of perceptions' of leader charisma and effectiven ess. Although speech content and organizational performance cues likewise a ccounted for variance in these perceptions, their effects were at times off set by those of delivery.