Thursday, June 3, 2010

CHARISMA

Charisma is a personal attractiveness that enables you to influence others. It is also a personal appeal that one has and this attracts others like a magnet. A charismatic person enchants others around him and creates a personal appeal.

They are able to influence others and win friends by their charm and grace and have a great number of followers. If we study the history, we can find that most of the greatest leaders possessed a star quality that drew others to them. Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte, Martin Luther King, Mohandas karamchand Gandhi and M G Ramachandran had a magnetism which is often easier to identify than to explain. Greeks noticed this first and named it ‘Kharisma’. This is a rare trait including extreme charm along with innate and powerfully sophisticated communication and persuasive skills.

We can call it a brand image or building a logo or Icon for themselves. In our contemporary mundane world where people are “buying” brands (IPL in India has become a brand) and personalities, over products, charisma continues to be as important as it used to be during the early Greek era. Of late the large and small corporations have started to understand this concept and tend to believe that success begins at the grassroots or at an individual level. Classic example is the panchayati raj set up envisioned by the congress party of India which will enable the party to have a firm foundation by slowly building this system.

Corporations have started realizing that charismatic leaders are the ones who are able to connect with subordinates and with customers at a deeper level, creating memorable experiences for them. They pay much attention to the person they are talking to at any one moment, making that person feel like they are, for that time, the most important person in the world. They acknowledge that it is not just operational abilities, but charisma that would differentiate in the longer term.

We shall see what it takes to be a charismatic leader:-

All charismatic personalities have a common trait in taking the leadership in society without asking for the same. They have enormous faith in themselves added with immense patience which is enduring. They work unselfishly for the upliftment of the society. They accept the result which comes from their own decisions. They feel emotions themselves quite strongly and induce them in others and they are impervious to the influences of other charismatic people.

Charismatic leaders almost always have a view of the future that will excite people and convert them to followers. They often talk about bold and lofty visions and share a dream and direction that other people want to share and follow. Thus we can see a bold viewpoint emanating out of them.

To be a charismatic leader one should be an excellent speaker. By that it means, Charismatic leaders not only walk the talk, but they even talk the talk. By saying that I mean they embrace every opportunity to convince others towards their vision. They always make it a point to speak in such a way as to create trust and personal integrity.

If we observe in close quarters we can see that charismatic leaders do things calmly and have enormous patience in built in them. They send out the right signals through every one of their actions. They consciously act in ways that make others feel great in their presence. They let people know that they matter and that they enjoy being around them; through their upright posture, direct eye contact, genuine smile and firm handshake. They always make an effort to appear enthusiastic and passionate through their body language and articulate speech.

Lastly it is the commitment that matters in all charismatic personalities. Charismatic leaders are always visible and will stand up to be counted rather than hide behind their troops. They make continued efforts to motivate and rally their followers, constantly doing the rounds, listening, soothing and enthusing. It is their unswerving commitment as much as anything else that keeps people going, particularly through the darker times when some may question whether the vision can ever be achieved.
Be blissful.
S.Sekar
Contact: sekrajc@yahoo.com