Summary: “Charisma gets people to like you, trust you, and want to be led by you. It can determine whether you’re seen as a follower or a leader, whether your ideas get adopted, and how effectively your projects are implemented.” The Charisma Myth, page 2 Charisma is usually thought of as some innate quality; something you're either born with or not. The reality is, like most things, not that simple. According to Olivia Fox Cabane in her book entitled The Charisma Myth, charisma is something to be learned and practiced. The Charisma Mythoutlines solid advice on how to embrace and develop our charisma in order to achieve our goals and mission in leading and life. Golden Egg Employ Your Charisma Behaviors “Contrary to commonly held charisma myths, you don’t have to be naturally outgoing, you don’t have to be physically attractive, and you won’t have to change your personality. No matter where you’re starting from, you can significantly increase your personal charisma and reap the rewards both in business and in daily life.” The Charisma Myth, pages 9-10 Does charisma magically happen? The simple answer is “no.” It takes effort, but is attainable by all, so long as we can understand and learn to focus on three key behaviors: presence, power, and warmth. These three behaviors need to flow together in order to make the most of our charisma. It starts with presence. We need to be fully present with others for our charisma to really work. In the age of distraction, we can easily be listening while not really listening. Our mind begins to wander, and our attention dissipates. With imperfect presence, we lose the people around us as they feel our lack of care. People want to feel that they have our full attention when they speak with us. Helping them feel that way will draw them into us. In other words, when we are fully present, we create a memorable moment for those immediately around us. Power and warmth are added in and tightly bound together. Only both can enable our charisma. While warmth is our goodwill towards another, power is our ability to make things happen. Being powerful with no warmth will not translate into having charisma; it may be viewed as just arrogance. Power and warmth provide the balance to enable our charisma to appear with the right mix of behaviors. Our minds and bodies play key roles in our presence, power, and warmth. Our minds create the state in which we operate. With the right mindset, our body language aligns and works in concert with all our behaviors. It is about being in sync inside and out so that our charisma is felt and experienced. Charisma sounds simple then, right? Unfortunately, there are many things that get in the way and diminish it. Our presence, power, and warmth can easily be distracted and disjointed, and it is only through our awareness and practices that our charisma can be revealed and properly used. The Charisma Myth delivers important insights and lessons that open the door to our capabilities – eliminating the roadblocks and empowering our ability to lead more effectively and successfully. The following GEMs offer two examples of how to utilize your untapped charisma. GEM # 1 Engage Your Discomfort “Imagine strolling along the paths of your mind. Suddenly, you notice an unpleasant thought. See it as graffiti on the wall. That’s all it is, graffiti – not a verdict on what kind of person you are.” The Charisma Myth, page 49 What often gets in the way of using our charisma is discomfort and negativity. Some of this is self-inflicted, and some is inflicted upon us. In either case, there are ways to move beyond the discomfort. It takes effort and focus. Two examples of how to engage our discomfort are (1) re-writing reality and (2) writing letters. Example 1. Reality strikes. We get stuck in traffic. We encounter something that raises our anger or some other negative emotion, which impacts our presence, power, and warmth. In other words,
