In this article, I will show you seven qualities of a charismatic leader that you can use to become more charismatic and lead any group of people. Of course, this is not a comprehensive and exhaustive list. Still, it’s enough to give you an edge and become an irreplaceable asset in any organization or to create and lead a group of people based on your vision.
Max Weber defined charisma as a “certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These are such as are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader”. The charismatic leadership is the “power legitimized on the basis of a leader’s exceptional personal qualities or the demonstration of extraordinary insight and accomplishment, which inspire loyalty and obedience from followers”.
It’s an entirely different kind of leadership than the ones you usually read and learn in leadership books. This leadership depends upon a person fascinating a group based on the strength of their personality or the passion of their vision. This is leadership based on the leader’s ability to communicate and behave in ways that emotionally reach followers to inspire and motivate.
Charismatic leadership it’s not easy to develop like other types of leadership, but this can make you irreplaceable in any group… this is a problem for the organization, but the ideal situation for you, the individual, especially in our days of economic uncertainty.
Here are the seven qualities of a charismatic leader:
1) Strength or personality: All charismatic leaders had a personality that attracted people to them. It’s like they are magnetic. They have a distinct, solid, and strong character. But, of course, we all know there are not two individuals the same. Still, charismatic leader is entirely separate from everyone else, not because of their different ideas (which they might and often have) but because their personality has a seemingly unlimited strength and passion. This is the true key! Everyone is drawn to an intense and passionate individual. This strength and power cultivate a cult of personality that creates admiration and an ideal to aspire to. It’s the so-called ideal of ego.
2) Vision: As a charismatic leader, you should always know where you’re heading. Having a clear vision that points the way to where you and your group should be heading is a crucial step. And not just any vision, one that it’s incredibly compelling and in line with your values, interests, and desires. Your passion for this vision should be so intense that other people will fall in love with it. A powerful and current vision – one that connects with your deepest passions and triggers your highest potential – helps you to know why you’re doing what you’re doing, regardless of what’s going on outside of yourself or the challenges presented to you at any given time.
3) Simplify your speech: The speech of a charismatic should be simple and straightforward, preferably with stories and metaphors. This will make everyone relate to you much more quickly. If they cannot understand you, they won’t follow you. Create images in the minds of your group of what they can become by following you. Look at Martin Luther King and his famous I have a dream” speech: simple, straightforward, and full of imagery that transmits HIS vision. It’s not by coincidence that this is one of the most-known speeches in the history of the world.
4) Feeling your emotions strongly and making others feel them is crucial for the infectious transmission of your vision. A charismatic leader is never numb to life. Look around; many people you meet are living in a seemingly waking sleep. They want to get through the day without screwing up; long were the days of exciting lives and living intensely. They live in a cleverly made routine with no real surprises. When someone intense and different pops into the scene, they follow him like bees to honey, for once they have a bigger ideal to follow, they have intensity and fire in their lives even if they lived through another person. This leads to…
5) Creation of emotional bonds: Emotional bonds last for much longer than intellectual bonds. When an emotional connection is made, it can last a very long time. Charismatic Leaders don’t want others to follow them only based on their intellectual ideas; they play on emotions to create powerful bonds.
6) Search for the spotlight: Go for it whenever you can spread your vision! A charismatic leader doesn’t hide in the backstage; the charismatic leader is always on the stage. Only this way can you get more followers. If you are not known, you don’t spread your vision, and you don’t get more followers. So take advantage of the spotlight; it’s a great opportunity. Seek it!
7) Claim Higher Principles: Your strength and passion come from something higher than yourself. You are just the transmitter of a higher principle… be it ethical and moral values, a dream of a nation, or even supernatural or divine strength.
