In this post, our leadership trainer Matt runs through what it means to be charismatic and why it is such an important trait for great leaders. Confidence plays a big role in having charisma; something we emphasise on our Confidence and Assertiveness Course.

It’s always interesting when you are running a leadership course and the subject of charisma comes up.

When I ask the question “what is the difference between leadership and management?” you can pretty much guarantee that someone will say “managers don’t need charisma, but leaders must have it”.

I often then ask delegates who their examples of people with charisma are, and this is where it gets intriguing. You get such a wide variety of suggestions.

Amongst the choices people have put forward have been: President Obama (a popular choice), Simon Cowell, Sir David Attenborough (he seems to be universally admired), Karren Brady and Richard Branson. It’s also very touching when people name previous teachers or managers as examples.

What I think is notable is that often one person’s choice will surprise other delegates and sometimes will elicit fierce debate.

In this country I have never seen anyone disagree with the suggestion of Obama, but I know many Americans would vehemently disagree with any suggestion that he has charisma.

As I said earlier, the saintly Sir David seems to have almost 100% approval rating, but there are other figures who divide people (Cowell seems to enrage some folks whereas others see him as a powerful presence).

Clearly, it’s often the political figures who bring about division in the training room, but not exclusively.

I think what is being demonstrated here is that charisma is not something that people exude to equal effect on other people.

It would seem that whether we find someone charismatic depends on a number of factors, not just the well-worn “body language” or “it’s something you are born with” explanations. Charisma is a two-way process in which the followers are just as involved as the leaders.

When, in the training room, we really drill down into what makes a good leader we come up with a huge list of qualities and competencies. And what we discover is that innate charisma (if indeed there is such a thing) is nowhere near the top of the list in what most people look for in a good leader.

We also seem to find that the skills, actions and attitudes of great leaders are ones that can be practiced and honed. Of course this touches on the thorny “nature vs. nurture” argument that is so much in the Zeitgeist these days (a good book to read on the subject is “Bounce” by Matthew Syed).

The “10,000 hours” theory posits that if you look at most high achievers in any field, be it sport, politics, entertainment, business, science, then you will see that the individuals have piled hours and hours of practice into their discipline.

The classic example of this is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who from the age of infancy was more or less strapped to his harpsichord by his musician father.

So, if you want to start (or continue) work on your 10,000 hours of practice towards being a great leader then a good place to do that is at Silicon Beach Training. Our 2-day Leadership training course increases your awareness of your current leadership style and abilities.

You will also come to appreciate the impact your leadership style has on those with whom you work. The more leadership styles you have, then the more situations you can handle.

We can’t inject you with a wonder serum that gives you innate charisma, but we can give you expert guidance on how to keep improving your leadership skills and therefore your positive impact on the people you lead.

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Tags

charisma, great leadership, leadership skills, obama, richard branson

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