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What does it mean to have Charisma? Some may believe that it is the innate ability to make individuals respond through emotion. Psychologists, however, have categorized it as the ability to influence and attract others through verbal and nonverbal actions. This skill of personal quality comes into play through multiple avenues such as business and politics. When trying to build this “personal quality” one must understand how our ability to develop social skills to influence our actions we take towards other individuals.
This ability is rooted from the concepts of ethos (authority), logos (logic), and pathos (emotion). These concepts help to establish a strong sphere of influence and attraction amongst other individuals to captivate an audience or group of individuals.
Characteristics of Charisma
To first understand Charisma, it can be broken down into factors including confidence, optimism, and determination. As people develop such social skills it translates into pillarstone communication skills. Harvard Business characterizes Charisma as a clear visionary that is able to captivate and inspire an audience (Learning Charisma, 2012).
Researchers found charisma through the following acts of communication that draws into the audience's persuasion of emotions: personal anecdotes, body language, gesturing, and ethical high ground (Charisma, 2024).
Application of Charisma in Real-World Settings
When viewing charisma in managerial roles of society, there are always constraints to our methods of communication that can shed light on our charismatic actions. Studies conducted abroad (i.e. Western and Asian subcontinent studies) have shown that there is a disconnection between the ability of politicians and business executives to show this trait. Business leaders can be seen as less likely to exhibit such characteristics of Charisma due to the “transactional” relations between themselves and their employees. This can cause a disequilibrium between workers' perception of authoritative figures that can disrupt the collective goals of the company. As the Harvard Business Review mentions, “the most effective leaders layer charismatic leadership on top of transactional and instrumental leadership to achieve their goals.”(Learning Charisma, 2012).
As for politicians, researchers observed there was a higher prevalence in their ability to captivate, as these roles of government likely require public press and media coverage to a greater extent than some business leaders. For example, research has shown that in 8/10 presidential standings, politicians who showed greater elements of charisma (e.g. confident body language, smooth sentence structures, and sustained speech tempo) outperformed their counterparts leading to campaign victory (Learning Charisma, 2012).
Leadership Quality and Charisma
Based on the examples above, we are able to see the fine thread linkage between charisma and the engrained nature it has in leadership positions such as for politician or business executives. Additionally, when CEOs are able to utilize these social skills which have been widely used by successful political leaders, there was an increase in employee ratings by 60% in the authoritative figures' ability to draw persuasive leadership communication within the company setting (Learning Charisma, 2012). When charisma is used to the professional level it can be seen through its Greek origins deriving from the translation of “special gift” which in leadership can be seen as a quality skill of effective leaders in our time.
How to Build Charisma
To develop upon the skill of charisma, there are keystone factors in refining the effectiveness of an individual's charisma that boils down into seven factors (Hoffeld, 2016).
Conveyance of confidence in speech (e.g. eloquent language, consistent speech tempo)
Deep attention to detail when engaging on conversion with individual or groups
Display radiant feelings of optimism that exemplifies elements of trust and friendliness
Show passion when viewing topics of speech and interest
Spreading the ideal of working for a cause greater than oneself and broadcasting utilitarian values
Strong faith in one's ability to perform at their greatest potential and reflect upon their actions
Open-minded to self-disclose anecdotal stories to build upon personal relationships with individuals and groups.
So what can be taken away from the ability to foster a charismatic personality? Within a biological perspective humans are social creatures that feed from the interactions of other individuals within a community. We are able to see that there is a psychological background for why humans behave the way they do and our ability to influence and persuade others can transcend global industries that require skills of communication.
Works cited
Antonakis, J., Fenley, M., & Liechti, S. (2012). Learning Charisma. Harvard Business Review. [online] Available at: https://hbr.org/2012/06/learning-charisma-2
Charisma | Psychology Today. (2024). Psychology Today. [online] Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/charisma
Hoffeld Group. (2016). Scientifically Proven Ways to Increase Your Charisma. [online] Available at: https://www.hoffeldgroup.com/7-scientifically-proven-ways-to-increase-your-charisma/
Nuthawut Somsuk. (2024). Business attraction or charisma with power to draw or attract business opportunity money or customers concept businessman holding high power magnet to attract all benefits. Vecteezy. [online] Available at: https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/2456153-business-attraction-or-charisma-with-power-to-draw-or-attract-business-opportunity-money-or-customers-concept-businessman-holding-high-power-magnet-to-attract-all-benefits
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