.. ; \ ' .·'· J --------------------- CHARISMA AND OBEDIENCE: A RISK COGNITION APPROACH Stephen Turner* University of South Florida Weber's account of charisma solved certain specific problems in the philosophy of law by using a concept from the history of church law. The concept Weber generalized from, originally formulated by R. Sohm, relied on the notion of divine inspiration; Weber's uses required a substitute causal force. The standard substitutes are culturalist, in which the power of the charismatic leader or the state comes from meeting cultural expectations for leaders, or contractual, in which leaders give followers something they want. Neither account squares with the fundamental use of the idea, to explain cultural innovation and internal change in followers. A new model of the character of charisma that fits these needs is proposed. In it, the leader is seen as a person who both offers a choice of a new vision of risks and opportunities and, through his or her own conduct, provides evidence of the realizability of this vision through submission. The example of Frank Lorenzo, a case of business charisma, is discussed in detail. Weber's comments on charisma are scattered throughout his work, and out of this huge mass of material it is difficult to extract a simple "theory. "There are two broad headings under which his comments may be put-the legal and the religious. The temptation is to construct a conception of charisma that makes sense of one set of comments, and then interpret the other kind of usage in terms or" this conception. Ordinarily, this has been done in one direction-to make the comments on religious charisma fundamental and explain political charisma by derivation, as a subordinate case. The comments on religious charisma make reference to religious enthusiasm, ecstatic states, collective frenzy, and the like (Smith, 1988, 1990). In modern, rationalized, societies, characterized by what Weber himself called the "mutual strangeness of religion and politics" (Gerth & Mills, 1946, p. 335), the connections are difficult to make. Butthe connection can • Direct all correspondence to: Stephen Turner, Department of Philosophy, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33620. Leadership Quarterly, 4(3/4), 235-256. Copyright© 1993 by JAI Press Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISSN: 1048-9843 jl ·.1 . ' . 1 ·: ..