Pablo Escobar:
Pseudo-Transformational Leader
Case #1

Prepared for

Dr. Bret Bradley

Prepared by

Team 2:

Timothy Donnelly

Sande Jarrett Chase Miller

MGT-3133-001 - Leadership

February 14, 2012

Intro
Pablo Escobar was the charismatic, ruthless leader of the Medellin drug cartel in Columbia during the 1970s and 80s (Kelly, 2005, p. 118). He possessed charisma, intelligence, and an idealized status in the eyes of his followers like a transformational leader (Minster, 2012), but he showed criminal tendencies from a young age (A&E, 2012) and displayed the poor morals and selfish manipulation of others that characterize a pseudo-transformational leader. While Escobar did have some degree of idealized influence and appeared to exert inspirational motivation, his poor morals and thirst for power compromised these aspects of his leadership and led to a lack of intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration for his followers. Because of this, Escobar, while charismatic and effective, was not a true transformational leader.
Idealized Influence The idealized influence factor is a characteristic of transformational leadership where the leader’s behavior, charisma and strong moral values compel followers to strive to emulate the leader and view him as a role model (Northouse, 2010, p. 177). Individuals with poor moral values may still have high charisma and seek out leadership roles, but without the moral element cannot be considered true transformational leaders.
Charisma and the ability to garner respect allowed a poor man from the streets of Medellin, Colombia to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world. Pablo Escobar’s personal characteristics, such as charisma, facilitated a sense of pride and respect among the poverty-stricken people from the slums of Medellin. Escobar had participated in