In recent years, researchers have begun to examine the effects of charismatic leadership on environmental performance. Previous studies have considered how the stages of product life cycles influence green manufacturing, but have neglected to explore the connections among charismatic leadership, environmental performance, and product life cycle. To investigate these connections, survey data were collected from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) along the east coast of China. The main findings included a mediated moderation effect to connect those concepts and enriched the literature of organizational context and natural-resource-based view. Precisely, we concluded that the product life cycle is a contextual factor in the effects of charismatic leadership on environmental performance to support the strategy of product stewardship; SMEs’ charismatic leadership helps share visions among stakeholders for promoting environmental performance and sustainable development; and environmental performance ultimately improves financial performance for sustainability.