Charismatic Leadership
The simplest way to become a great leader is to become a leader that people wish to follow. If people either like or respect you then this can be achieved. You do not need to be liked to become a charismatic leader, but you do need to be respected for success in charismatic leadership.
Please note: – My next comment is not meant as a boast or brag, as it is not something I am particularly proud of. But it serves to explain a purpose. People used to stand in dis-belief at how I could abuse someone but then they would go to hell and back for me in one of my old companies.
I would take somebody apart piece by piece in a way where if someone else did it, it would seem like I was bullying a person. However, it was done with out any bullying. It was just as a matter of fact, this is the way it is situation…. I.e You’re an idiot, was what was said. But what was heard was, I am not an idiot about anything else I do, just about this thing… This thing he’s pointing out now… That I am an idiot about! It was accepted as a fact and need not be brought up again.
Everybody else thought it was hilarious, and the person who had done something stupid was more accepted and helped by the group. Now this sounds like some sort of magic formula, but it wasn’t. It was just that I had developed a skill of charismatic leadership, whereby I could get away with saying and doing virtually anything.
I at times sacked people and would re-hire them in different positions and then sack them again, and on two occasions did this three times. I still see these people, I’m still friends with them, and if I picked up the phone and said, look I’m in trouble I know they would help me. This is charismatic leadership, yes these are extreme examples, but they are there to prove a point. That if you get this right then you can get your people inspired, and motivated to work for you.
Where I got it wrong, was once they had, had a taste of this style of leadership they really needed it to feed their self-esteem, to make them feel good about themselves. So when someone else took over leading them, it was difficult to follow me. And a lot of workers who were simply beyond belief under me, became nightmares to other people.
So in hindsight I took it too far. Since that time I have toned it down somewhat and can now apply just a little bit of this charismatic skill and get people to do whatever I need done.
Now at the time of having dozens of workers who would readily fall on their sword for me, I had no idea that I was a charismatic leader, let alone even know such a thing as charismatic leadership existed. It was just simply the way I did it.
I did it this way because of one simple thing, I knew exactly what I wanted and where to go to get it. In other words I had the map. And you will find in life that people who are on the same path as you… ie your co-workers, will always follow the person who has the map and has confidence in where they are going.
Of course it is a given that you must be good at map reading and you must be good at fixing something when it breaks. But both of those skills are just mindset tools, which you acquire when you are the one in control of your mind. When you doubt where you are going, and you doubt when you are in control, then of course you have no chance of developing a charismatic leadership skill set.
The foundation to my charismatic leadership was that I designed a system to figure out exactly what I wanted and a route to getting there (even if I had never been there before). When you know those two things then you have confidence in your actions, and you start to exude confidence naturally in your speech, your directions and most importantly, your body language.
Remember what I said about calling someone an idiot. I called him an idiot, but my body language called him an idiot about a specific point, not generally about everything in his life. Remember the stats say that something above 90% of all communication is done via body language. So developing this skill is the best language to learn.
This skill is a mindset trait and can be developed, once you know your destination and the route to getting there. Or rather the potential route to getting there.
As an example, if we were off in the Jungle, and you were following the ‘white hunter’ Jungle guide who was cutting a path through the Jungle. And he said to you, “Don’t come off the track as you could get killed!”
Then you went off the track, he would come back and abuse you and call you an idiot. You would know he was only focusing on your ability to not listen to him and stay on track, he would not be commenting on anything else in your life. He was not liked, but he was respected and he had charisma when he did it… A natural skill set for him.
To acquire this awesome skill of charismatic leadership, all you need to do is have A Bug Free Mind, then figure out what you desire… It really is that simple. You once had this skill, I think every single person had this skill when they were a child. However, pollution of your thoughts has robbed the ability from you.
Now of course my leadership skills have moved on somewhat and recently an expert in corporate business paid me a very great compliment when he said you have got the highest level of leadership skills, you have humility. Develop that and you will automatically become a charismatic leader.
Best wishes
Andy Shaw – A Bug Free Mind
Social Profile
