It has been a turbulent week in UK politics. Indeed, it has been such a roller coaster of political upheaval that the news has spread worldwide. The troubles for the British Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, have made front-page news across Europe, the USA, Brazil, India, and Russia. Several reports made it clear that Sir Keir’s last-ditch attempt to save his premiership lacked charisma.
Meanwhile, up in the vibrant and growing city of Manchester, the Mayor, Andy Burnham, was plotting his return to parliament with the express aim of becoming the new Prime Minister. For years, people have swooned over Mr Burnham, claiming he is highly charismatic. Indeed, Vogue magazine profiled him, saying, “We all fancy Andy Burnham”.
These two men are at opposite ends of the charisma spectrum. One is flat, staid and grey. The other is dynamic and colourful.
However, before you start suggesting that the UK Prime Minister needs a charisma boost, it might be worthwhile to reflect that the theory of charismatic leadership has been widely criticised.
In fact, Harvard Law School recently published an article explaining that the theory, which was popular 30 years ago, has now been shown to have several weaknesses. Charismatic leaders can often do more harm than good. For example, they can become addicted to the emotional adulation they receive, which then prevents them from acting logically. Similarly, charismatic leaders can trigger increases in unethical behaviour in organisations. Having someone with charisma at the top of an organisation is not necessarily a good thing.
Equally, having someone with little charisma leading a team is not good either. Researchers in Belgium have shown that low charisma leaders tend to avoid strategic behaviours. In turn, this means they are difficult to follow because nobody knows where they are heading. The same researchers have shown that the greatest positive impact of charisma is seen when leaders have charisma in the middle ground between high and low levels.
If you want to know how charismatic you are, you might consider taking the General Charisma Inventory. That can measure your charisma levels. Or you could just check whether you exhibit behaviours linked to charisma. These include making appropriate eye contact, smiling naturally, speaking with energy, telling clear stories, and using language that connects with the people in front of you. This is a component of emotional intelligence in which you listen carefully to what someone says and reflect their linguistic style when you speak with them. In essence, you “mirror” their language. Do that, and they perceive you as charismatic.
You may well have worked with someone who lacks charisma. Their eye contact is poor, they rarely smile, and they speak in their own style, often trying to be “professional”. They are the kind of people you might say have had a “charisma bypass”. These are the leaders whose lack of warmth and direction can make them look less strategic, even when they may have perfectly sensible plans in their heads.
So, can you train people to be more charismatic or to lower their excessive charismatic behaviours? It turns out that charisma training is entirely possible.
Plus, if your organisation has trained people to achieve that “middle ground” charisma, you do not face the problems caused by the departure of someone with high charisma. When your team has been led by someone highly charismatic, the next leader is inevitably compared with them. If everyone were middle-of-the-road, that issue would not arise.
The practical lesson, then, is not to manufacture theatrical leaders, but to develop leaders who are easier to trust, easier to follow and easier to talk to. You gain that when you exhibit the psychological characteristics called “capacity” and “willingness”. Capacity is the extent to which you help others achieve their needs. Willingness is the extent to which you show you are motivated to do this. In other words, we can all increase our charisma in one simple way. Just show others that you care about them, that you can help them, and that you are willing to do so.
