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Very few leadership attributes
Very few leadership attributes have as dangerous a downside as charisma.
This is largely true because the outward signs of good charisma and bad charisma are similar.
Here are three categories of dangerous charisma, and how to avoid them in your personal leadership.
If you find yourself
If you find yourself influencing others for the wrong reasons, ask
- How am I drawing attention to myself, and away from others?
- What is the organization missing while it’s focusing on me?
- If my company relies on me too much, what happens if I need a break, or become ill, or want to do something different
- What do I do when I don’t know what to do and have not built up others to contribute?
- What do I do when all my old tricks of charisma or being “smart” don’t suit some future challenge?
Leaders can become addicted
Leaders can become addicted to charisma.
A leader who employs too much charisma can come to rely on this ability as an end unto itself.
The recognition, validation, and basic positive feedback generated by charisma is a heady mix – and can tempt a leader to capture this reaction first and foremost, rather than face situations that are more challenging or unpopular.
Charisma grows for its
Charisma grows for its own sake and forgets its purpose.
This is what happens when both the leader and the organization are addicted to charisma.
Young or smaller companies are especially vulnerable because they have no other center of gravity outside of the charismatic founder.
Leaders can avoid this
Leaders can avoid this quagmire by making sure they don’t take their charismatic capabilities for granted, or treat them lightly.
Authentic leaders understand the influence and authority they have by virtue of their position and personal attributes.
They learn to be better leaders over time by focusing not on what makes them compelling personally, but on what makes their organizations compelling as a whole.
The challenge expands if
The challenge expands if the company grows because followers tend to believe that the charismatic leader is responsible for any success.
The leader must supply more charisma to keep the dynamic humming; the need shifts to growing charisma, not the organization’s ability to grow itself.
Charisma is a capability,
Charisma is a capability, not an answer.
If you are a charismatic leader, everyone knows it, and there is no need to overplay the role.
If you focus on leading with the greatest regard for your responsibilities and highest esteem for your followers, it is less likely that you or your organization will be undone by your own charm.
Organizations can become addicted
Organizations can become addicted to the charismatic leader
An overly-charismatic leader draws focus from the rest of the organization by demanding attention for him- or herself.
The followers can become overly dependent on the leader for all manner of large and small directions and decisions.
The most extreme example of group dependency? A cult.
Sometimes too many things
Sometimes too many things must pass through the leader, and no one is sure of the reaction. The enterprise loses the ability to be resilient in the face of changing realities.
Leaders who want to avoid organizational dependency must ask themselves:
- Do I spend my time empowering others to make decisions, or does my involvement force people to look to me for answers?
- How often do I dive into details that belong to others?
- How do my actions and attention affect others from taking responsibility and accountability for their actions?
