I stand corrected. Charisma counts.

14Mar11

I’d like to take a moment to amend some counsel I gave. Turns out, it may have been, well, wrong. I have shared with my clients that you really don’t need to be charismatic to be a great leader. Perhaps I was trying to offer comfort to those that didn’t think they could be charismatic. I would offer that substance was more important than flair. You still need substance, but if you can’t inspire raving followers, your substance will not translate to results.

Great leaders need followers that do more than understand the purpose or vision. They need people to act upon it. They need to turn them into what Peter Drucker called, maniacs on a mission. You need to inspire.

I do my best to help others create a compelling vision. I think too much effort is being spent to craft a product; a vision statement. I believe that much more could be accomplished if we thought about working on being compelling. Being charismatic.

Unfortunately, there is no charisma in a can product available. Fortunately, there are skills that can be practiced and mastered. It comes down to powerfully communicating your message. It means communicating your passion (and I should add if you are not passionate about your message, forget charisma. Oh, you can also forget leading others.) Business schools rarely teach the skills to powerfully present your message. They seem to believe the numbers will present a compelling direction strong enough to get others on board. Here is a clue. The numbers are necessary, but boring. They are not enough.

There are a number of scholars and practitioners that are filling this gap in executive education. My recommendations include Carmine Gallo’s great book “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs”, Ron Crossland and Boyd Clarke’s great work on executive communication, “The Leader’s Voice”, and something completely different, poet David Whyte’s “A Heart Aroused.”

While you cannot be taught the passion necessary for charisma, you can learn the skills necessary to communicate it with charisma. That matters.

Filed under: Uncategorized   |  Leave a Comment