The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism (32 page)

Use a wide, well-balanced stance and take up as much space as possible on stage. Limit superfluous gestures that distract the audience’s attention.

Speak as if you’re sharing a secret with the audience, telling them something special and confidential.

Use smiles and fluctuation to warm your voice.

Keep eye contact for one to two seconds per person.

Pause frequently and deliberately to show confidence and add drama as well as give yourself a chance to breathe.

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Above four, we must engage different, slower brain processes. It takes us more time to remember the items, and we do not remember them as accurately. Assessments of one to four items are rapid, accurate, and confident through a process called
subitizing
. As the number of items increases beyond this amount, judgments are made with decreasing accuracy and confidence. In addition, response times rise in a dramatic fashion.

CHARISMA IS PARTICULARLY
effective during times of uncertainty, ambiguity, or crisis. “Leaders perceived as charismatic are rated higher when times are tough and anxiety is high,” Omar Sultan Haque of Harvard’s department of psychology told me.

It’s easier to be perceived as charismatic during a crisis because people facing an emergency are more readily affected by a leader’s magnetism;
¹
they become “charisma hungry.” Whether it was Churchill’s ability to rouse England’s spirits and inspire her people to stand while the rest of Europe fell, Napoleon taking France by storm as it was reeling from the French Revolution, or Gandhi voicing a clear path during India’s identity crisis, people who respond to crisis with bold, decisive actions will be perceived as charismatic.

If you find yourself in a crisis, it’s actually an opportunity to gain charisma—
if
you play your cards right. This chapter will show you how.

First, retain at least a certain measure of equanimity.
Most charismatic leaders are known for their ability to remain (or appear)
calm even in the midst of turbulent circumstances. As you know, anxiety impacts how you feel, how you perform, and how others perceive you and react to you. It’s often immediately visible in your body language.

As a leader, your body language already has a ripple effect through the company in normal times. This effect is only magnified in times of crisis, because crises put leaders in the spotlight, with people anxiously watching their every move. Stress systems go on constant, low-grade alert; primal brains take over, leading people to react to your body language far more than to your words. Your body language will have an even greater emotional contagion effect than usual. It becomes critical for you to maintain the right internal state so that you can broadcast the right body language. To keep cool, use all the internal tools—this is where they really shine. I particularly recommend the following techniques:

• Check your physiology often, both for your own sake (it affects your psychology) and for that of others (it will be “caught” by them and will spread).
  
• Skillfully handle internal negativity: destigmatize, dedramatize, and neutralize the negative perceptions that may be crowding your mind.
  
• Rewrite reality to whatever degree is helpful. To get out of a pessimistic state, find a few different ways of viewing the situation positively.
  
• Use visualizations to keep yourself in the right state. For instance, a responsibility transfer could be useful for reducing anxiety.
  

Refer as often as necessary to the midcourse corrections checklist found on page 198, which walks you through handling critical moments step by step. Practice this with little crises as often as possible, so that when a big crisis hits, this flow is second nature.

Second, express high expectations
. Sometimes, simply assigning to people the labels you want them to live up to is enough. After hearing that they were considered charitable, New Haven
housewives gave far more money to a canvasser from the Multiple Sclerosis Association than they ever had before.
²
The mere knowledge that they were viewed as charitable caused these women to make their actions consistent with others’ perception of them.

After analyzing more than three dozen studies of charismatic leadership, Wharton School professor Robert House concluded that “expressing high performance expectations” of people while “communicating a high degree of confidence” in their ability to meet those expectations was the hallmark of charismatic leadership.

Think of the people you want your charisma to impact. What standard would you like them to live up to or exceed? Express this expectation as if you have full confidence that they can live up to it. Better yet, act like you assume they already are meeting these standards.

Third, articulate a vision.
A charismatic vision is what will give your charisma staying power when the crisis is over. Think of Nelson Mandela, whose vision of unity and modernism for South Africa was so powerful that even after the crisis of apartheid had passed and his service as president was over, he continued to be seen as a transnational leader for all of southern Africa and an influential voice in international politics.

On the other hand, President George H. W. Bush, who had enjoyed 90 percent approval ratings during the Gulf War, was voted out of office the very next year. His charisma had soared during the crisis, but he had (in his own words) neglected “the vision thing.”

To be charismatic, your vision must vividly illustrate the difference between the way things are now and the way they could be. Charismatic leaders often point out deficiencies in the status quo, contrast this picture to a glorious future, and show how they intend to get there. Though this might sound complex, it’s something many of us do already. Even salespeople seek the deficiency in their potential clients’ present condition (which will be remedied, of course, through the purchase of their goods or services).

Having a vision isn’t enough; you also must be able to communicate it. Use the tools you learned in the
previous chapter
to craft a message and deliver it in the most charismatic way.

Once you have expressed your vision, be bold and decisive.

By the winter of 1815, Napoleon, defeated and humiliated by the French Royal Army, had been condemned to a life of exile on the island of Elba. The man who had risen from humble beginnings to lead the French army and crown himself emperor of France was now alive only because his attempt at suicide failed. In the last few days of February, he escaped the island and landed on the shores of France with nothing. He had neither power nor money, and had last been seen in a humiliating defeat.

And yet the sheer force of his visionary charisma drew people to him once again. He conveyed complete confidence in his ability to sweep through the country and regain power. He gave people a compelling vision of a country free from the long-hated ruling class.

He had nothing but a vision and charisma, yet that was enough. The unthinkable was happening: with no money to pay soldiers’ wages, without even enough food to feed them, Napoleon was somehow gathering troops and proclaiming his intention to reclaim the throne.

The French court was incensed. Marshal Ney was asked to lead the charge to quash the ruffian once and for all. On the day of his departure, Ney made a public commitment to the whole court that he would “bring back the usurper in a cage.” He then set off from Paris, marching at the head of the royal armies even as Napoleon was leading his much smaller band of men to meet him. On the morning of March 7, the two armies met at dawn.

On one side stood the massive French regiment; on the other, Napoleon’s scrawny army. Napoleon emerged, alone. He crossed the divide, and when he was within gunshot range, he planted himself in front of the opposing troops—the same army that he had once led. And he shouted: “Here I am. Do you want to kill your emperor? Go ahead.”

The soldiers, overcome with emotion, responded with cries of “Long live the emperor!” and crossed the divide to stand by his side. Ney himself abjured his mission and joined Napoleon, and they all followed as he marched upon Paris to reclaim the throne.

Studies consistently show that in times of crisis, people instinctively turn to individuals who are bold, confident, and decisive.
Crisis creates uncertainty, which creates angst, and people will cling to whatever they feel diminishes this angst. This is why faith, vision, and authority have such power in times of crisis.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Charisma is particularly effective in crisis situations.