5 Critical Charismatic Leadership Principles That Most Leadership Coaches Won’t Tell You

Trying to communicate without a strategy at work is terrible for your KPIs, team and stakeholders, and so I want to talk with you about why you need to incorporate charismatic leadership tactics into your skill set, especially if you’re a CEO, founder or emerging leader. 

Charismatic leadership is the outcome of intentional behaviours, not your identity at the outset. So, if you think you’re the least charismatic person in the room, pay attention because we need to talk about how to amplify charisma with concrete communication tactics. And, for the extroverted person who sees themself as highly charismatic, wait a sec because I’m sure you’ve got work to do!

This blog post is best digested in 3 parts:

1. Check the tips below.
2. Watch the vlog.
3. If you want to increase your charisma, our High-Performance Communication Audit will uncover the proven speaking skills you need and give you the impetus your career communication needs so that you can feel and sound more confident at work!

#1 Charismatic leaders know that they must polish each interaction and prepare mindfully with concrete strategies

Good leaders never neglect the chance to nourish their conversations so that their messages are clear and inspirational to each person they interact with because they understand their responsibility to harness trust and build the dream for their team, clients or investors.

#2 Charismatic leaders humbly recognise that their communication is the most significant risk on the table

In my work as an executive communication consultant, I meet many visionary leaders and disruptive founders who are incredibly successful and influential. On the outside it would be easy for you to conclude that such leaders or founders have mastered leadership communication. 

But here’s the critical factor. Good leaders and founders know that interaction outcomes with clients, stakeholders and teams can be volatile and realise that a poorly played interaction manoeuvre can sever the dream, disengage an entire group or even flunk what was meant to be a powerful pitch for investor funding. 

And that’s why humble leaders invest ongoing time and work to study charisma tactics. 

Now you might think, this is all about showmanship. 

Typically, we connect charisma to performers and entertainers, which can lead to misconceptions about what charismatic leadership is!  

So first, let’s consider what charisma does across an organisation or in your business.

When a leader presents their message with high charisma scores, their listeners feel more confident, intelligent and capable (Ning, 2019) 

Building up your charismatic leadership skills is one of the best investments to increase your conversation partner’s confidence. 

If your communication can make your team feel more competent, you’ll see an increase in KPIs and well-being at work. Likewise, if you set your clients or customers at ease with your communication, you’ll see more engagement with your products and services because charisma fast-tracks genuine and meaningful relationships and will always benefit your customer’s experience with your brand. 

If your communication has the power to make investors feel confident, they’ll back your innovation. 

So how does it work? How do charismatic leaders and entrepreneurs make the people around them feel more confident in their vision, drivers and goals?

#3 Charismatic leaders work on their communication development to better others, not themselves

If you want to be a charismatic leader, take the focus off “personal branding” and put the emphasis on personal growth goals that benefit your conversation partners. 

There are many areas of personal development waiting for you. Speaking articulately is not all it takes! Focus instead on the interaction skills you need to develop how you interact with the critical mass of people around you. 

Leaders inspire people to take action. And the only way they can do that is through their communication.

#4 Charismatic leaders learnt that lone wolf leadership can only go so far

Working as a founder to build out your company or heading up a large team as a CEO compounds the schedule, and there comes the point where the temptation can arise to adopt a lone wolf leadership style. But take care. While downtime and isolation away from your team, business or clients are needed for refreshment. But stepping away from your team can bring clarity but at the risk of alignment. 

When your schedule compresses you and your workflow crunches you, as a leader, it’s normal to want to distance yourself from the interpersonal pressures and energy needed to interact with your core crew. Of course, you can set boundaries, take sabbaticals, and even work remote for extensive periods of time, but only if you’re strategic. Don’t lone wolf it without a systematic method that creates a connection. If you’re in a different timezone, invest in social intelligence training to build rapport while absent from the office.

On sabbatical? consolidate team morale in a time-based project before leaving to protect alignment and make sure you build out a plan to raise rapport on your return. Then, when faced with conflict, make sure you have social intelligence tools that streamline your self-regulation skills, empathy and persuasive negotiation skills to protect your reputation and your health.

If I were to tell you that charismatic leaders garner more trust, increase the bottom line, keep their team productive and inspire their clients and investors to take action, take note that isolation removes you from the pack and will not serve you well unless if you use time-based methods to infuse connection, even while absent physically. 

Sure, if you’re a solopreneur, you might think this message doesn’t count you in. Still, recall, if your goal is to stimulate market demand for your business, the only way you can do that is by inspiring your clients, animating them to take action and engage you in a meaningful life changing customer experience that fuels not only your business vision but ultimately, the greater good, because after all, it’s not all about the bottom line.

#5 Charismatic leadership is a vital requirement for transformative organisations and disruptive change for the greater good

We’re dealing with human lives, and our capacity to interact and inspire is a gift given to us daily. So working on your communication to increase charisma, even in a micro cottage business, could be the critical factor that gets you to understand what your clients ask of you, builds your competitive advantage and results in powerful innovations that finally solve your customer’s problems. And your communication skills are the best predictors of these positive outcomes. 

Likewise, if you’re a big player in the entrepreneurial space, you’ll also want strategies to fast-track impeccable interaction experiences each time you attend a meeting, take that rushed phone call or meet with a new business venture partner. Why? Because you know too well that time is inestimable, the clock never ticks backwards, unfortunately. Time lost is just that, lost. In a pressure cooker schedule, each minute must be accounted for to hold the most relationship value, and you’d be surprised how much worth you can bring to your relationships if you learn some communication hacks for busy leaders. 

Charismatic communication is the wormhole to a brighter future for your career and business relationships; it will guide you all to better prospects faster than the rest.

And it’s something you’ll want to acquire, especially if you’re 

• running a hybrid work model
• striving for a leadership position
• pitching for venture capital
• rebuilding team alignment in a fractured organisation
• delivering a premium service to clients
• managing multiple people
• navigating internal organisational conflicts
• fretting about meeting KPIs around communication at work

Maybe you’re in a position where you feel like your impact at work, throughout your organisation or in the market economy is weak.Here’s what you need to do! Work on communication strategies that enhance your ability to engage the listener in a way that addresses their needs so well that they are inspired to take action. There are many avenues you will need to take to ensure a successful outcome.

The best way to understand the process of charismatic leadership is to consider a drinking glass at a cafe. Imagine it’s a scorching day. You find a seat at the cafe and ask the waiter for some still water. As you pour the water into your glass you notice that the crystal is smeared, since it hasn’t been polished well. This makes the water feel less clean and fresh, than if the glass had been carefully cleaned. Before you can focus on the refreshing water, you’re distracted by the smeared glass. 

Just like a glass needs to be cleaned and polished each time it’s used, to better encase its contents, charismatic communication also requires preparation to showcase your expertise, skills and competence. When you neglect to polish your interactions, it’s a bit like reusing the same glass- with time, your message, impact and vision lose clarity… and no one listens, let alone values what you have to say.

Charisma is a tactic that you can integrate into your communication and the best approach to take is to mindfully embed each interaction with charisma strategies. 

Do you want to learn more about charismatic communication? A good place to start is with my free masterclass- How to look, sound and feel more confident at work. 

References

• Ning, I. (2019). What makes a speaker sound charismatic? A cross-cultural study based on acoustic-prosodic analysis. MA thesis, Chair of Technology Management, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany