During my winter travels I’m often confronted with a variety of misconceptions about charisma; what it is and how does it transform the performance of an organisation.
People hold a stereotypical image in their mind that charismatic individuals are maverick extroverts with big personalities. This contradicts my own theory based on 30 years of research that charisma will only flow when the individual is being authentic and is working with a sense of personal purpose.
These misconceptions spread into an organisational context where leaders feel wary about possessing ‘more charisma’ because it is often perceived as a ‘La La’ skill that could place their business at greater levels of risk. Robert Maxwell, Fred Goodwin and Rupert Murdoch play out these stereotypes creating a negative attitude towards the whole concept of charisma and the value of charismatic leadership.
Yet organisations with challenging performance and productivity targets can find almost instantaneous benefits by developing the charismatic potential of their workforce. The quality of an engine fuel will directly impact on a vehicle’s performance. What we eat will affect our emotions, energy and health. In the same way, when an individual is operating from their authentic self and feels passionately about their work, they stimulate a flow of energy, thereby triggering the utilisation of their charismatic potential.
This unseen ‘power’ can be hugely beneficial to customer service representatives who find it easier to connect with their customers, even over the phone. One major pitfall of a customer service training programme is that individuals often pay lip service to what is required of them and can end up delivering a customer service process as automated robots, going through a script. Customers sense the difference between service delivered from the heart and superficial platitudes delivered from the head. Charisma ignites the customer service process so that customer interventions become unique and special creating a significant difference in customer attitudes towards that organisation.
Additionally, employees who are delivering service from their hearts are more engaged, more committed and more motivated than their ‘going through the motions’ peers. These charismatic individuals trigger a natural process of transmitting their positive energy so that the culture of a department can evolve organically from the mindset and charisma of just one or two individuals. In Quantum Physics this phenomenon is called entrainment – where particles and waves natural synchronise together.
In 2004, in conjunction with Vic Conant, President of Nightingale Conant we embarked upon the world’s biggest piece of sales research ever undertaken. 2663 organisations shared their views on barriers to sustainable sales success and the special ingredient that sets the top twenty percent of sales superstars apart from other sales people. Findings showed that charisma is the difference that makes a huge difference to successful sales people. Since that time I have been able to replicate charisma in any individual by working from the ‘inside out’ so the individual’s authenticity is upheld with integrity.
Early studies conducted since 2008 indicate that teaching people to activate more of their charismatic potential can benefit not just customer service and sales teams, it can benefit project managers, leaders, Heads of Departments and talent.
As many of today’s businesses are feeling ‘forced’ to make cutbacks, go back to basics and keep things operationally ‘tight’ it creates an unconscious chain of fear, pessimism and anxiety within customers who are craving their feel good fix. There is no such thing as ‘business as usual’ because the usual methods will leave organisations floundering under the weight of a tough global economy.
Charisma is a sustainable feel good fix that leads to high levels of productivity, high workforce engagement and customers who become raving fans of that organisation.
A few years ago Emotional Intelligence and Insights Personality Profiling were considered a soft and abstract ‘nice to have’ – today successful organisations have embraced the power of these tools, realising that workforce and customer engagement requires a ‘from the heart’ approach. One day in the short-term future, organisations will accept that this elusive thing we call ‘charisma’ is in reality an accelerated route to sustainable business success. As a pioneer of charisma within an organisational context I will continue to develop further case studies to prove conclusively that charisma directy impacts the bottom line.
Whilst the rain batters my office window with a relentless rhythm, I notice a flock of Canada Geese on the river prepare for their long journey homewards. Their V-shaped formation conserves energy and enables them to keep track of every bird in the group. Synergy and engagement combined with an instinctual sense of teamwork and common purpose. A perfect charismatic example to conclude this week’s blog!
