Charisma and Leadership

Once upon a time several decades ago something called "transformational leadership" took on a life of its own. That means it became an academic fad. Also a fad among leadership trainers and consultants. Part of transformational leadership was the idea of charisma. Originally that meant some kind of special "thing" that certain people possessed and allowed them to not just motivate but actually inspire other people. Charismatic people attracted other people to themselves and their causes.

Now the practical question is: how do you train or teach or develop charisma in someone? The orignal idea as that charisma was some kind of inborn special trait or ability or "thing" that some people had and others didn't. Let's ask the question a little differently: how do you train someone to be inspirational? Could be difficult.

However the academics took over and studied charimatic leaders and leadership. They believed that charisma consisted of four main characteristics: a strong sense of personal values, the ability to be dominant (in social situations?), being self confident, and have a strong desire to influence other people. So now we have some things we can "train into someone." Really?

First we have to develop in an individual a strong sense of personal values. That also means the ability to withstand any tendencies toward conforming to other people's values. Can we do this in a training session? Not likely. Can we do it in a seminar or series of seminars? Not likely. Can we do it over a long period of time through self-examination, personal growth experiences, and just simply getting older? Probably.

Next we will try to train someone to be dominant. What? Come on! Again this is going to take a long time and a lot of effort. Unless a person is basically dominant, a personality trait that he or she has had for years, it isn't going to be easy to create a dominant person from an average individual and certainly very difficult from someone who is shy and withdrawn.

Same old song. We have to try to create someone who is self-confident. Relates to the first requiremen in which we "train" someone to resist social pressures. This is not an easy task. In fact it sounds like something that would require psychotherapy or at least a lot of counseling in self-assesetiveness.

Finally the training program has to create someone who wants to influence other people. This may not be all that hard. Most individuals probably want to influence others. All we have to do is encourage them - maybe this will come as a result of a developing those strong personal values, becoming dominant, and being self-confident.

So this wonderful idea of the charismatic leader turns out to be pretty useless in practical terms. Apparently the best way to get a charismatic leader is to find one. Trying to develop one could be costly and time-consuming with some risk that it would never hapen.

Someone in my chosen academic field many years ago proposed a simple test for any proposed idea or method. Ask "so what?" My response to the proponents of charismatic leadership is "so what?"

Fortunately the transformational leadership fad has passed. But others have taken its place and others will be coming. Always ask: so what?

Leaders versus Powerful People

People - consultants, trainers, writers, teachers, professors - who claim they can produce leaders are engaged in a scam. They can't. If they do it has nothing to do with what they provided. This blog will deal with all the varied leadership training and development scams. Read on.


Leaders are people who have followers - and the followers follow willingly. The true leader has no authority over her or his followers.

Then there are managers. All kinds of managers. Most of them are not leaders. They hold positions in organizations, and they can tell people what to do. Yet in everyday talk, newspapers, and magazines they are called "leaders."

Is there really a difference? Sure is. Just ask anyone if he or she has ever worked for a manager. Anyone who has worked has worked under a manager of some sort. Then ask the same person is he or she has ever worked for a leader. Most will say "no." People, everyday ordinary people, know the difference between a leader and a manager.

So what? Well here's the scam. Almost all of the writing about "leaders" and "leadership" and almost all of the research and theorizing about "leaders" and "leadership" is based on organizational management.

There's more. Almost all of the training and so-called "leadership development" is focused on organizational managers and management. Just go out and look at the books on leadership. They are intended for people who are in positions of power or else people who want to get there.

Scam? Yep. If you want to "get ahead" and acquire authority and power you need to learn political and social skills. That's how "leaders" get into those positions. Leadership development, in that sense, should be training people on those political and social skills.

So most of the published stuff on leadership is about using authority - that is, power - to get things done. Many of the people who do this or want to do this are good people and they don't think they are doing anything bad. And they aren't. They are doing what everyone else does.

There is always an element of coercion between a superior and subordinate in any situation and particularly in an organization. The manager may not believe that she or he is coercing. And usually isn't. Overtly. But there is always the threat of an action by the "leader" that will be hurtful or dangerous to the subordinate.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have participated in these kinds of leadership scams off and on for years. I have written books about "leadership." And chapters. I have written articles for journals. So now I am an older and wiser whistleblower. Who doesn't expect to have much effect. But I think I will have some fun.

Remember: leadership is about voluntary commitment by a follower to a leader. Anything else isn't.