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Hello dear blog readers! In this article, I will tell you about a magical tool with which you can easily achieve success in life. Attract the attention of the opposite sex and easily convince opponents of anything. We’re talking about charisma. Do you know what it is and what are the signs of charisma?
Basic Concepts
Charisma is a tool that allows some people to influence others, inspire confidence, look in the eyes of a certain group of people as the embodiment of wisdom, success, talent, beauty (it’s not for nothing that the word “charisma” comes from the Greek “grace”, “divine gift”) . Charisma is inherent in most public people: artists, businessmen, film actors, politicians.
Signs of charisma can be innate and appear as early as early childhood. Remember how the roles were distributed in the yard games: someone was the commander of the detachment, and someone «brought the cartridges.»
And they can be formed consciously by a fairly mature person who develops and improves his inner resource, which allows him to realize his goals in business, politics or personal life through influence on others.
Interest in the concept of «charisma» first arose in the early twentieth century in connection with the study of ways to influence the mass consciousness. Modern sociology and psychology often emphasizes the need to study it as a tool for the formation of a successful personality.
Traits of a charismatic person
A person endowed with charisma is a pronounced individuality. The specificity of which is manifested in temperament, character, structure of abilities, hobbies and even in specific habits. A charismatic person easily creates the effect of exclusivity. It is important to understand that such an effect operates mainly within a separate group, for which it is important to be led by an outstanding personality. At the same time, a charismatic leader does not try to dispel the illusion, but tries to meet and even exceed the expectations of the group.
This is, of course, a leader, although the scale of leadership, and the vector of its direction may be different. Say, Maria Ivanovna, who lives on the first floor of the entrance next to you, can only unite and lead the residents of the house, raise them to fight for clean front doors. And the power of charisma of such personalities as Mahatma Gandhi, Joseph Stalin, George Washington or Adolf Hitler transformed the behavioral reactions of entire nations, significantly influenced their historical destiny. The modern concept of leadership is changing: leadership is now seen as an internal strategy that allows you to fully realize yourself and (or) influence a group that needs a person who is ready to take responsibility for the decisions made.
A person endowed with charisma is distinguished by self-confidence, as the basis, the basis of character. Confidence arises when a person believes in the realization of the set goal and is able not to despair because of failures, not to cultivate numerous complexes, but to be able to draw lessons from losses and draw conclusions. At the same time, the most valuable quality is the clear realization that situations are not repeated in full, which means that they (situations) are always different and there are certainly chances for success.
Example, Steve Jobs
So, if in 1975 Steve Jobs had been stopped by Hewlett-Packard’s refusal to consider the model of the first home computer, it is not known what the fate of modern electronics would have been. The history of Apple began with the inner pressure and self-confidence of a leader who managed to captivate no less professional and technically literate friends — Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The latter, by the way, having lost faith in success, sold his share of the authorized capital to his partners for $800. Wayne explained this act by saying that he could not «fly through life with the tornado of energy and aspiration that Steve Jobs was.»
The art of speaking beautifully
Another defining feature of a charismatic person is communication skills, including the ability to speak competently, emotionally, and vividly.
A talented speaker appeals both to the mental component of the audience and to emotions, forcing them to think in a given direction and experience certain feelings.
The speeches of a charismatic leader are most often built on the basis of stories. These can be anecdotes, fables, instructive stories, the hero of most of which is the speaker himself (the focus is on actions, thoughts, life observations and experience) and which build a system of arguments better than any statistical calculations. Most of the stories voiced by the leader are tailored to a specific task, designed to lead to the goal, regardless of any obstacles. It is noted that a speech in the form of a sermon has a special impact on the audience.
The legendary charismatics of the XNUMXth century turned to this form: Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler. The main feature of speeches of this type is the personal component — history, facts, arguments are presented through the prism of the author’s understanding, reflecting one’s own impression of what was voiced, of the presented goal and ways of its implementation. A classic example of such a speech was the famous speech by Steve Jobs to the graduates of Stanford University. At the heart of his speech was a story from his own life that can motivate and lead you to a dream: “Stay hungry! Stay reckless!»
Adolf Hitler is certainly an odious figure. However, on the oratorical Olympus of the last century, he occupies almost a dominant position. His charisma was unconditional, albeit with a negative spin. In his speeches, which had an aggressively expressive character, he subtly reacted to the moods of the listeners and skillfully manipulated them. So in the autobiographical book “Mein Kampf”, Hitler cynically noted that during mass meetings, a person’s critical thinking is practically turned off and it can be completely directed in the direction the speaker needs. “I take advantage of this state,” notes the author, “it makes my speeches as influential as possible, and I send everyone to meetings where people turn into a mass, whether they like it or not. I communicate with them as with a mass.
I think that no matter how brilliant orator this historical character was, today few people would like to be like him. But the personality of Abraham Lincoln and, in particular, his speech at the opening of Gettysburg Cemetery, entered the annals of the greatest achievements of oratory. It is known that the author, despite the extremely small amount of speech (less than a page), worked long and hard on it and rewrote it for the last time just before the event.
Features of speech
In addition to the content of the speech, the charismatic leader is also distinguished by the pace of speech: for the most part, it is slow, with large characteristic pauses, possible deviations from the language norms and defects in diction.
Such features are known to have been in the oratory style of Joseph Stalin (strong Caucasian accent), Fidel Castro (demonstratively slow speech rate), Winston Churchill (stuttering). However, this did not bother them at all, since their most important task was not just to convey information to the audience, but to infect listeners with an idea, to lead them.
Another component of charisma is appearance. The way a person looks, his facial expressions, gestures, style of clothing to a large extent make up the necessary effect, a reaction to a person. Such people are recognizable in the crowd, their appearance is extraordinary. They do not need to be the embodiment of the standard of beauty, most often the appearance of a charismatic is far from ideal. However, our heroes are not at all embarrassed. Rather, it encourages or gives rise to self-irony, which characterizes the person as self-sufficient and without complexes.
For example, the legendary Japanese commander of the XNUMXth century, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the hero of Kitami Masao’s book “Samurai Without a Sword,” recalls with a smile that for many years he was called nothing more than a Monkey: “I seemed like a man like a monkey, or a monkey like person.» Nevertheless, even such, to put it mildly, unusual appearance did not prevent (and sometimes helped) the hero to achieve his goals and be at the top of the social ladder, creating the image of an elite leader in Japanese culture.
The difference between male and female charisma
What is the difference between male and female charisma? Is it possible to draw a line between them?
Let’s go back to the beginning of our conversation and see what defines the essence of the concept of «charisma». This is, first of all, a property that allows you to dominate, influence other people. But do men and women use the same forms of influence on counterparts? Of course not.
The feminine type of behavior is fundamentally different from the muscular one.
Men’s
A man is traditionally perceived as a conqueror who relays the power dominant: he controls, manages, presses, mostly acts directly. In the book of a famous American psychologist, a recognized specialist in the claimed field. (the author lectures on leadership theory at Yale, Stanford, Harvard Universities, teaches top managers of companies from the Fortune 500 rating) Olivia Fox Cabein «The Myth of Charisma» deduced a rather controversial, but interesting formula for male charisma: Presence + Strength + Warmth.
Male charisma does not imply overactivity in the process of communication. Much more effective is the ability to concentrate as much as possible on the interlocutor, that is, to be really present. Strength in this context is not a mountain of muscles, but rather an internal potential. The resource that allows a man to make decisions and take responsibility for them. But, perhaps, warmth is the main thing in this triad of qualities. This element of male charisma is almost impossible to fake. A person who is able to sincerely empathize and support others always radiates magnetism. It would seem that everything is simple, but the reasonable and harmonious eclecticism of these components creates a powerful aura of influence.
Female
Female charisma appears as a symbiosis of, at first glance, antagonistic qualities: self-confidence and softness, firmness and lightness, emotionality and restraint. A charismatic woman will not run to stop a galloping horse herself, and she also has nothing to do in a burning hut. It won’t, but it can! Feel the difference? Inner strength, natural charm, originality and a state of inner harmony are the main features of female charisma. They are manifested in the look, in the plasticity, in the manner of speaking. This cocktail creates complex and ambiguous charismatic images. They become brands and are in no way inferior to the muscular ones: Coco Chanel, Madonna, Frida Kahlo, Edith Piaf.
Thus, by examining why charismatic people have such a strong influence on others, we have found out a comforting thing. To become charismatic, it is not necessary to receive the prize of Mother Nature. Charisma is formed, developed and increased. But how to do this in practice, you can read in the article: “How to become a charismatic person against the backdrop of 90% of people.”
Be charismatic and people will be drawn to you