Charisma is a word that remains a mystery to many people. The concept of “charisma” came to us from the times of Ancient Greece. Charites - ancient Greek goddesses - had the ability to move gracefully and gracefully and were distinguished by indescribable beauty. Charisma can be described as the ability to attract attention to oneself, to control a large number of people, to the point that it can impose its ideological principles on other people. This is a resource of a person’s personality that helps to improve oneself.
Charismatic people find it easier to move up the career ladder, build relationships, and influence the minds of other members of society. Charisma is a kind of synonym for leadership. Only born leaders can achieve mind-blowing heights.
Let us consider in the article the features inherent in charismatic personalities.
I realized that it is impossible to follow a leader without admiring him. Delight is a stronger feeling than the feeling of power. Charisma is more effective than primitive pressure. Augusto Kuri. Seller of Dreams
Oratory skills of charismatic people
Undoubtedly, a common feature of many charismatic people is perfect mastery of the art of words.
Simply put, all charismatic people are great speakers. A leader, like advertising, is the engine of progress and any process. He must be able to speak in front of an audience. The public can be very diverse: a class, a university audience, colleagues, social strata of the population, if we talk about a larger scale, this is a whole people. To reach people, to cause a change in their emotional mood, to open people’s minds to provide the information they need.
You can be a great speaker without having charisma. And there are many such examples: heads of departments at enterprises, teachers, managers in commercial organizations. The words of such people have a meaning that you understand, and they are 100% right, but they do not light the fire of your consciousness and do not provoke people to “go and do it.”
A child with pronounced charisma will be drawn to mastering the art of oratory on a subconscious level. He will need time to replenish his vocabulary and read intellectual books. This will subsequently become the foundation of ideas and ideological principles.
Charismatic people know how to use public speaking skills in practice as a tool to achieve their goals and implement ideas. Charisma is an individual feature of a person’s talent. You should not cherish the illusion that after reading a couple of abstruse books you will become a super-charismatic person. Many may think that if you just watch the actions and speeches of famous and influential people, you can learn charisma, but that won’t work here either. But almost anyone can hone their oratorical skills to the level of perfection.
Charismatic leaders in human history (page 4 of 5)
Finally, there is a “synthetic” theory that attempts to combine the two “extreme” concepts mentioned above and has attempted to describe the qualities inherent in a charismatic leader and thereby helped to understand this phenomenon in more detail.
All the qualities that are usually endowed with a charismatic leader can be combined into three large groups.
1. Communication potential
A charismatic leader is, first of all, a charming, sociable and self-confident person. The communication style of a charismatic leader includes the following characteristics: a captivating timbre of voice, rich intonation, direct and open gaze, inspired facial expression, impression-enhancing gestures and postures, greeting with a handshake, etc. Self confidence. A leader exhibits confident behavior because he is convinced that he is right and does not doubt what he believes. This confidence is passed on to his followers.
Personal influence. Charismatic leaders have excellent debating and persuasion skills, technical knowledge, and the ability to bring about changes in the attitudes, behavior, and emotions of their followers [5]. A charismatic leader is a person who has the ability to dominate, a person whose behavior, words and actions emotionally infect others. Sometimes honesty and directness are indicated as important communicative characteristics; his words do not diverge from his deeds.
2. Motivational potential
The confidence of a charismatic leader does not arise out of nowhere. His confidence is an expression of his deep need to change the world around him and the knowledge of how to do it.
Often, a charismatic leader is credited with a high desire to be a leader and a high need for power. However, the desire to be a leader is not enough. Moreover, a true charismatic leader does not strive to become a leader. More precisely, leadership is not an end in itself for him. Leadership is a means to him to achieve other goals. The goal of all a leader’s activities is to transform the world around him.
On the one hand, indeed, a leader experiences a high need for power; he strives to influence people and lead them. But at the same time, he is ready to take responsibility for his followers, since he is not interested in power in itself, but in power as a tool for implementing transformations.
Therefore, a necessary condition for charismatic behavior is a sense of one’s mission in this world. If a person feels this mission, feels that he can change something in this world and knows how to do it, then leadership and power themselves come to him, because he begins to be perceived as charisma.
Foresight. Includes (1) a clear idea of the future, (2) confidence in the correctness of one’s vision of the future, (3) the ability to clearly and contagiously formulate one’s vision of the future, (4) instilling confidence in one’s followers in the implementation of this vision. The leader with all his behavior says: “We will cope with this difficult task!” This inspires his followers, awakens in them hope and faith in the success of the business. In addition, foresight influences the attitude towards activity: “We do not sell flowers, we sell beauty.” Message "keys". Clear formulation of objectives - what and how should be done to achieve a common goal. Maximum clarification and articulation of information on completing the task. Appeal to the rational and intellectual potential of followers.
3. Energy potential
To achieve his goals, a charismatic leader must spend a lot of time and effort. Therefore, another essential component of charismatic leadership is a strong type of temperament. Hence the inherent high performance and stress resistance, initiative and energy, courage and enterprise, courage and perseverance, reliability and responsibility, independence and freedom inherent in charismatic leaders.
Intellectual potential. Of course, it is not bad if the leader has a high level of intelligence. He must collect, process and interpret large amounts of information, and anticipate the consequences of his actions.
Creativity. The decisions a charismatic leader makes should not be standard decisions. The main thing is that these decisions are successful.
Skills and knowledge. A leader has a lot of knowledge and skills that his subordinates need to achieve common goals. Thanks to this, he can act as a teacher.
4. Social environment
In addition, there is one more component without which no charismatic leader can exist. This component does not relate to the characteristics of the leader himself, but belongs exclusively to the surrounding world. No leader could become a leader without the appropriate social environment, that is, without the people who need him. Followers of a charismatic leader identify with him and his mission, show extreme loyalty and confidence in him, perceive his values, reproduce his behavior, and evaluate themselves through the lens of their relationship with the leader.
We can say that a charismatic leader comes when there is a need for him in society. Therefore, situations favorable for the manifestation of charismatic leadership include social crises that lead to deep dissatisfaction of people with the state of affairs in society and cause a need for serious changes.
Thanks to the above components, a charismatic leader is able to instill awe in his subordinates; other people find his point of view undeniable; By influencing his followers, a charismatic leader can get them to perform beyond all expectations; he is able to gather around himself a group of people who share his worldview and are devoted to him and his mission. [6]
Section 3. Charismatic leaders in history: brief essays.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT (356-323 BC) - king of Macedonia from 336, one of the greatest commanders and statesmen of the ancient world. The victories of the Macedonian army under the command of Alexander the Great constitute the pinnacle of the military art of Ancient Greece. Alexander the Great, like his father Philip II, studied, mastered and developed achievements in the field of troop training, tactics and strategy of the armies of Athens, Sparta, Boeotia and other ancient Greek states. A huge power, created as a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great, stretched from the Danube to the Indus and was the largest state of the ancient world. However, deprived of a strong internal connection, it disintegrated after the death of its creator. A number of Hellenistic states arose on its territory.
GAI JULIUS CAESAR (100-44 BC) - Roman dictator in 49, 48-46, 45, from 44 BC. e. - for life. Politician and commander. He began his political activity as a supporter of the republican group, holding the position of military tribune in 73 BC. e., aedile in 65 BC. e., praetor in 62 BC. e.
Seeking a consulate, in 60 BC. e. Julius Caesar entered into an alliance with the Roman commanders Gnaeus Pompey and Crassus (1st triumvirate). Consul in 59 BC e., then governor of Gaul; in 58-51 BC e. subjugated all of Trans-Alpine Gaul to Rome. In 49 BC e., relying on the army, began the struggle for autocracy. Having defeated Pompey and his supporters in 49-45 BC. e. (Crassus died in 53 BC), found himself at the head of the state. Having concentrated in his hands a number of the most important republican positions (dictator, consul, etc.), Gaius Julius Caesar became a de facto monarch.
Killed as a result of a Republican conspiracy. Author of Notes on the Gallic War and Notes on the Civil Wars; carried out a calendar reform (Julian calendar).
As a commander, Caesar was distinguished by decisiveness and at the same time caution. He was hardy, and on a campaign he always walked ahead of the army - with his head uncovered, in the heat, in the cold, and in the rain. The great commander knew how to motivate his soldiers with a short and well-constructed speech, personally knew his centurions and the best soldiers and enjoyed extraordinary popularity and authority among them.
CLEOPATRA (69 - 30 BC) - the last queen of Hellenistic Egypt from the Macedonian Ptolemaic (Lagid) dynasty.
She became famous thanks to her dramatic love story for the Roman commander Mark Antony. During her reign, Egypt was conquered by Rome, Cleopatra herself committed suicide so as not to become a captive of the first Roman emperor Octavian Augustus. Cleopatra became one of the most popular ancient characters in films and literary works.
Cleopatra VII ruled Egypt for 21 years successively in co-rule with her brothers (who are traditionally formal husbands) Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, then in actual marriage with the Roman commander Mark Antony. She was the last independent ruler of Egypt before the Roman conquest and is often, although not entirely correctly, considered the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. She gained wide fame thanks to her love affair with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. She had a son by Caesar and two sons and a daughter by Antony.
YAROSLAV THE WISE (about 980-1054), Grand Duke of Kiev (1019). Son of Vladimir I Svyatoslavich. He expelled Svyatopolk I the Accursed, fought with his brother Mstislav, divided the state with him (1025), and united it again in 1035. With a series of victories he secured the southern and western borders of Rus'. Established dynastic ties with many European countries. It was under him that the Russian Truth was compiled.
PETER I (Peter Alekseevich; May 30 (June 9), 1672 - January 28 (February 8), 1725) - Tsar of Moscow from the Romanov dynasty (since 1682) and the first All-Russian Emperor (since 1721). In Russian historiography he is considered one of the most outstanding statesmen who determined the direction of Russia's development in the 18th century.
Stories and Stories - Master Level
Mastery of the art of telling stories, stories, parables, the ability to convey well-known facts, interesting cases from personal experience and illustrate all this with arguments is another facet of oratory.
With this you can convince and win over a huge number of human minds to your side. Those with charisma successfully use such stories to educate and convince masses of people. Storytelling is a very functional thing. Simplicity and accessibility are exactly the format that is useful for correctly presenting information to the consciousness of the mass of people.
In most cases, the main object of stories of a charismatic personality is the person himself, his experience and personal views and beliefs. Most often, this is based on facts from biography and personal experience and supplemented with examples from your immediate environment.
Characteristics
Charismatic power
based on the exceptional qualities attributed to the leader. The term charisma itself (from the Greek χάρισμα, “mercy”, “divine gift”, “grace”) was introduced into the sociological conceptual apparatus by the German theologian Ernst Troeltsch. With this type of power, orders are carried out because the followers or disciples are convinced of the very special character of their leader, whose power is superior to the usual one existing and known to them. Charismatic power is based on the extraordinary, perhaps even magical, abilities that the leader possesses. It does not matter that perhaps his adherents endow him with these abilities, although they believe that some higher powers endow him with this gift. In this case, neither origin, nor heredity associated with it, nor other rational considerations play a special role - only the personal qualities of the leader. The presence of charisma means direct, directly exercised power. It is very likely that most of history's most famous prophets (including all the founders of world religions), generals and prominent political leaders were charismatics.
Quite often, after the death of a leader, disciples dismantle charismatic beliefs or transform them into traditional (“official charisma”) or rational-legal forms. Therefore, charismatic power in itself does not have a stable and long-term character.
Source
Public speaking
Speaking in public, a charismatic personality literally pours out his own emotions.
All his judgments, as a rule, are based on the subjectivity of the narrator himself. The enthusiasm with which the charismatic speaker talks can be the envy of almost every living person. The speaker conveys all statements, statements and calls for active action in the color of his personal relationships to everything. Most often, the format of such speeches is preaching. Demonstration of thought leadership - in the tempo of the voice and demeanor during the speech. Usually speech is conducted quietly and rather slowly, movements are slowed down or minimized.
All this is done with one goal - to attract the audience’s attention to one’s own figure. Long pauses are also relevant.
Signs
Signs of charismatic power will appear in the following form:
- By publicly sharing ideas, future achievements and supporting the leader, followers connect personal plans with the activities of the organization.
- Optimism and high degree of enthusiasm of supporters, each of whom is actually trying to become a charismatic leader of the “lower order”.
- The central place in any social relationship is given to the leader. This creates the feeling that the leader is everywhere and takes part in any social event.
Famous charismatic personalities: examples
- Such iconic personalities as Brezhnev or Stalin were extremely restrained and balanced in their speeches.
- In order for the nation to better perceive the leader and the essence of the speeches to be firmly deposited in the mind, Fidel Castro’s speeches were theatricalized. He, too, always spoke measuredly, but skillfully used the modulation of his own voice, using the boom of his voice. Everything described above is a shining example of an ideal performance.
But there were and are charismatic personalities who use a diametrically opposite model:
- These include Hitler and Zhirinovsky with confidence. The first literally spit saliva during his performances, shouted a lot and gesticulated with enormous power. Zhirinovsky uses fussiness, emancipation and energy. It even became his.
- The ideological inspirer of one of the leading companies, Apple, Steve Jobs, rehearsed a lot and persistently before his speeches. At first glance, all his speeches seemed relaxed and relaxed, but all this was the result of many days of rehearsals. This actually required him an enormous amount of effort and rehearsal.
- Churchill and Hitler preferred to rehearse in front of a mirror. And we always devoted many hours to this activity.
Charismatic power
Sociologist Max Weber gave the following definition: Charismatic authority
- “based on devotion to the eminent holiness, heroism, or exemplary character of a particular person, and to the normative patterns or orders formulated or prescribed by that person.”
Charismatic power
is one of three forms of power, formulated by Weber as a “tripartite classification of power”;
the other two components are traditional power
and
rational-legal power
. This concept has become widespread among sociologists.
A charismatic personality is always a teacher
No one can teach the truth like a charismatic person.
A charismatic person is always a teacher, mentor or simply a deeply knowledgeable person. He always has knowledge and is confident that he is the one who knows how to live, what ideological principles to bring into his life, and how to act in various situations. For a charismatic person, there is no concept of biological age. With the ability to convince a large number of people of the seriousness of his personality, knowledge and experience, he is able to interest any age category. He may be 2 times younger than his listeners, but no one would think of even a hint of reproaching him. The speeches and speeches of people with pronounced charisma never look like boring and ordinary speeches. There is only one format - communication with the public, understanding when it is worth getting a backlash - and on an intuitive level he will feel the mood of the audience.
Live speech is the main tool of a charismatic speaker. For him, the most important thing is to focus on his person. In the most extreme cases, he resorts to using pre-written speeches and words.
And the use of presentations and slides is more reminiscent of a well-staged set for his speech. These are forced measures, which are resorted to only when there is a need to dilute the speech. But this is not the basis for reporting the facts.
The presence of directed actions in the performances of a charismatic person is important. In every speech of a charismatic speaker there is a direction of actions and the speech itself. This may seem so to every person who closely peers and listens to the speech.
Here you need to understand that any public speech has a lot of subtleties and nuances. Each performance has its own structural division into an introduction, building up intrigue and general tension, a climax and a finale. In general, it resembles a well-directed theatrical action. After all, in essence, this is a well-rehearsed production.
The connection between energy and charisma
The key to success can be a healthy and strong spirit, psychological and physical health.
A charismatic personality must itself be a source of energy. The specifics are such that sometimes you will have to speak in public more than once a day, and all performances must be of the highest quality. With his mere presence, this personality must infect people’s consciousness and invest his ideas.
Well, I immediately felt that there was something between us. Well, some kind of attraction, connection... bluetooth! Or some kind of charisma. Cool guys. Kolyan
Charismatic power as an ideal type
Charismatic power was defined by Max Weber as one of the ideal types. In his research, he does not pay enough attention to how a leader becomes and remains a ruler, preferring to study more the relationship between citizens and leaders, that is, the so-called social factors.
Thus, M. Weber determines that traditional power is based on the fact that citizens automatically agree to this system precisely because of its existence. This means that people emotionally and often despite the effectiveness of the system continue to support the existing system. On the contrary, legal-rational government, precisely because of its effectiveness, maintains in citizens faith in the legitimacy of government, which gives people confidence in the justice of such power.
Loyalty is not always a companion to charisma
A distinctive feature of charismatic people can almost always be called the absence of such a quality as loyalty.
For the most part, people with charisma rarely think about correctness, and more often they don’t think about it at all. They are cruel and rarely compromise. Charismatic individuals do not infuse their speeches with politeness, gratitude, and compassion.
A true leader can radically change a person's way of thinking with just one speech. He is able to turn a person’s head, fill a person with confidence and change the stereotype of thinking and judgment.
The topics that true leaders address most often put their audience in conflict with the outside world. Often, for a certain segment of the population, speeches can be offensive, provocative, or even scandalous.
Characteristics of this type of power
The set of distinctive properties as a characteristic of charismatic power is manifested in the following points:
- Extremely pronounced personal character.
- Ahistorical, that is, the leader often does not adhere to any stereotypes, rules, or even laws that existed previously.
- Alienation of charismatic power from purely practical and everyday problems, in particular from the economy. Indiscriminate methods in dealing with economic problems - often the charismatic government prefers not to collect taxes, but to take away funds, confiscate and expropriate them, trying to give these actions a legal appearance.
Examples of the specific speech of a charismatic personality
The speech delivered by a true leader, a possessor of charisma, is mostly filled with special words, sayings, epithets, and specific catchphrases that are rarely used in everyday life by the majority of people.
Such “tricks” can be used as part of an ideology that is introduced to the masses by a person endowed with charisma. Or simply be explained by the peculiarities of his biography or special origin.
Particularly specific mastery of gestures is an important factor and aspect of the personality of a person with charisma. The gesture itself can be anything: restrained, graceful, overly mannered, or abrupt and awkward.
The most important thing is that these gestural techniques complement the harmony of the personality. Even speech impediments and accents can be used to create an individual image of a charismatic person.
True charisma is the ability to generate intense inspiration within oneself and demonstrate it outwardly. This ability makes a person an object of close attention and unconscious imitation on the part of others. Leah Greenfield
