GP Subscription Publications Hypnotic Leadership Leaders, Followers, and the Loss of Self By Micha Popper Praeger Publishers . Westport, Conn. 2001 . 144 pages LC 00-064942.
Popper compares leadership to fire.
The leader is the spark, the followers the fuel, and the circumstances the oxygen that feeds the flames. Describing examples of hypnotic leadership and using theories and concepts from psychology and the social sciences, Dr. Popper begins by providing three examples of leaders defined as hypnotic, whose spheres of influence ranged from a small group to millions of people. He then looks at the object of the hypnotism, the followers, demonstrating the psychological meaning of the yearning for a leader. While describing this as a possible general condition, Popper qualifies the universality of the argument, referring to differences between cultures in the attitudes toward authority or the ability to tolerate ambiguity. These differences are of great significance in terms of the susceptibility of being hypnotized by a charismatic leader.