Lara Engelbert

Charismatic leaders are exceptionally effective in increasing the performance of individual workers. We propose that charismatic leaders do so by increasing workers’ attentional focus. Using two cognitive paradigms (Study 1, Rapid Serial Visual Presentation task, N = 123; Study 2, Flanker task, N = 938), we tested our attentional focus hypothesis in two online samples. In Study 1, the charismatic leader manipulation had no significant effect on reaction times. In Study 2, we addressed some major limitations of Study 1 and tested our hypotheses in a larger online sample. Participants instructed by a charismatic vs. neutral leader worked significantly faster, indicating greater focus on the task. In both studies, leader charisma did not affect response accuracy, which was generally high in both leader conditions. Reacting faster in the charismatic condition did not come at the expense of less accurate responses. Our studies provide the first evidence for the effect of charismatic leaders on workers’ attentional focus.