ABSTRACT
To explain charisma, I use a signaling perspective regarding how humans transmit knowledge in a state of incomplete information. Applied to leadership, a signaling approach centers on how leaders communicate with and engage followers. A charisma signal concerns a leader’s values, emotions, and symbols, and thus transmits information about the leader’s intelligence and intentions. Such signals evolved because they enhanced the success of groups and explain followers’ attraction to the signal. I will argue that for charisma signals to remain credible indicators of leader qualities and intentions, followers should pay attention to other costly signals of intent such as self-sacrifice.
