In this article I’m going to show you 7 qualities of a charismatic leader that you can use if you wish to become more charismatic and lead any group of people. This is by no means a comprehensive and exhaustive list, but it’s enough to give you an edge and become an irreplaceable asset on any organization or to create and lead a group of people based on your personal 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 a completely different kind of leadership than the ones you usually read and learn on 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 a leadership based on the leader’s ability to communicate and behave in ways that reach followers on an emotional way 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… which is a problem for the organization, but the ideal situation for you, the individual, especially on our days of economic uncertain.
Here are the 7 qualities of a charismatic leader:
1) Strength or personality: All the charismatic leaders had a personality that attracted people to them. It’s like they are magnetic. They have a distinct, solid and strong personality. We all know there’s not two individuals the same, but the charismatic leader, is really completely distinct 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 a strong and passionate individual. This strength and passion cultivates a cult of personality that creates an admiration and an ideal to aspire to. It’s the so called ideal of ego.
2) Vision: You, as a charismatic leader, should always know to 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 it’s 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 really 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 the use of stories and metaphors& this will make everyone relate to you much more easily. 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, 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 own emotions strongly and making others feel your emotions: this is a key point for 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 just want to get through the day without screwing up, long were the days of interesting lives and living intensely. They live in a cleverly made routine with no real surprises in their lives. When someone intense and different pops in the scene, they follow him like bees to honey& for once they have a bigger ideal to follow, they have again intensity and fire in their lives even if 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: Whenever you have the opportunity to spread your vision, go for it! A charismatic leader doesn’t hide on the backstage, the charismatic leader is always on the stage. Only this way you can get more followers. If you are not known, you don’t spread your vision, and you don’t get more followers. Take advantage of the spotlight, it’s a great opportunity. Seek it!
7) Claim Higher Principles: Your strength and passion comes 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.
Строительные советы и не только!
