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A previous post on how to be more charismatic is here.<\/a><\/p>\n Charisma, personal presence, gravitas, magnetism, ‘that special something,’ there are many ways of talking about the elusive quality that some leaders have which makes people want to follow them. Charisma is a crucial factor for success and without it Obama would not have been elected. And if Gordon Brown knew how to be charismatic he may be having an easier time today.<\/p>\n In a business context charisma can have a huge bottom-line impact due to its effect on the performance of individuals, teams and organisations. But what exactly is this crucial and seemingly magical quality? Where does it come from, and more practically, can it be learned? My answer to this question is yes – you can learn how to be charismatic.<\/p>\n A brief internet search will tell you that the word charisma comes from the Greek “kharisma” – meaning “gift,” or “favored by God\u201d and is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as \u201ccompelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.\u201d An in-depth search of the literature will turn up some material on what exactly constitutes charisma, but less useful material on how to develop it. Rather than split hairs on definitions, I would like to identify some of its components and offer some practical tips on what to do if you\u2019d like to learn how to be more charismatic.<\/p>\n Projection vs. charisma<\/strong> Health, energy and appearance The role of the body <\/strong> Connection to a higher vision<\/strong> Self esteem Presence Emotional Intelligence Uniqueness<\/strong> Ten Top Tips – How to be Charismatic<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Some people seem to be born with charisma. But I would disagree as in my experience most of these people have had the inclination and the opportunity to practise and develop the relevant skills until they become embodied. True, there are no quick fixes to becoming more charismatic, only a number of areas to pay attention to and in which to develop good practices. 1. Get in touch with the bigger vision that drives you and remind yourself of this daily \u2013 for example, it might be a relevant quote or photo on your desk. ……………………<\/p>\n Charisma So What: Learn to embody your potential<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently published in Training Zone – this is an article on how to be charismatic. A previous post on how to be more charismatic is here. …………………… Charisma, personal presence, gravitas, magnetism, ‘that special something,’ there are many ways of talking about the elusive quality that some leaders have which makes people want to follow them. Charisma is a crucial factor for success and without it Obama would not have been elected. And if Gordon Brown knew how to be charismatic he may be having an easier time today. In a business context charisma can have a huge bottom-line impact <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9xvDN-6k","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}……………………<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
There is a distinction between projected authority and charisma. Some people appear impressive because you know of their social status and project this onto them. Charismatic people on the other hand come across as impressive from the moment you meet them, even if you know nothing about them.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>The basis of charisma is health. Charismatic people need not have perfect smiles or gym bodies, but they do have a vitality and abundance of life. They also nearly always manage their appearance well. Perhaps it is animal instinct to follow healthy individuals.<\/p>\n
Charisma is an embodied quality. I say this as it is apparent from the moment an individual walks into a room and is the same across cultures. The vocal style and choice of words of course makes a huge impact (Obama also has a great speech writer), but the basis is embodied. When I say embodied, I mean charisma is conveyed by posture and movement and tends to make charismatic individuals attractive in all senses of the word.<\/p>\n
Charismatic individuals seem connected to a bigger driving force beyond their own gain. Obama inspires hope through his sense of vision and purpose (as did Blair and Thatcher). Brown does not appear to be communicating how he might be in touch with a larger \u201cfor the sake of what?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Charismatic individuals like themselves and have high levels of grounded confidence.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>The ability to focus your attention is a key skill for leaders and the ability to be completely present adds to someone\u2019s personal presence. As a friend once said about the Dali Lama: \u201cEven though there were 30,000 people in the stadium you felt like he was talking to you personally.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Emotional intelligence is a crucial part of charisma. Awareness of emotions and the ability to manage moods are key skills for charismatic leaders, as is empathy for others. Charisma listens gently as well as booming confidence.<\/p>\n
Ghandi and JFK were both charismatic in their own ways. Both were attractive as much because of their uniqueness, as well as because of their strengths in all the areas outlined above.
Charisma is a learnable set of skills which can be built and which, when embodied, become a highly desirable characteristic.<\/p>\n
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How to be more charismatic:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
2. Maintain good health and vitality \u2013 this includes good sleep, exercise, recreation and diet.
3. Manage your posture \u2013 be grounded and connected to your dignity, take up your space in the world and be aware of both where you\u2019re going and where you come from. See the pioneering work of Dr Richard Strozzi-Heckler <\/a>in the US and Embodied Management Training<\/a> in the UK.
4. Learn to connect with your own feelings and listen to others – Non Violent Communication<\/a> is a system I particularly recommend.
5. Find out what builds your self-esteem on a deep level and develop this. Match your actions to your core values.
6. Develop courage by doing what you\u2019re scared of. Build a practice of confidence.
7. Learn to relax under pressure and practice (I strongly recommend improvisation classes.)
8. Work with your voice to improve clarity and speak with conviction \u2013 singing, acting and breathing work will help.
9. Develop a mindfulness practice such as meditation to train your attention.
10. Develop greater embodied intelligence with movement arts such as aikido, dance or yoga.<\/p>\n