According to Wikipedia, “Charisma” is defined as “The term charisma (pl. charismata, adj. charismatic; from the Greek χαρισμα, meaning “favor given” or “gift of grace”) has two senses: 1) compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others, 2) a divinely conferred power or talent.[1] For some theological usages the term is rendered charism, with a meaning the same as sense.”
As United States President Barack Obama made a visit to the Facebook HQ yesterday for a Town Hall meeting, I started to think about what has made him a “rock star” among political figures. I mean we’ve had other Presidents before him and we will have many after, but the history books will definitely be written as Obama being one of the most charismatic Presidents of the United States. This of course got me thinking to the world of communications and how leaders communicate a message to audiences, employees, stakeholders, competitors, and well the world. What makes one leader able to communicate better than another? What makes their body language appear to embrace vs. repel us?
Shows like Saturday Night Live do a great job at impersonations and they have done their share of poking fun at Barack Obama:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd_d6TtpQXQ
Wether it be the CEO of your company or your clients, media training charisma can make or break the public’s perception of an individual. How does your CEO rate on the charisma scale?
No matter whether you are the President of the United States, or CEO of a company, it is becoming extremely crucial how you are perceived and more importantly caught on film. Just ask Bob Parsons, CEO of Go Daddy who was recently caught on film shooting an elephant.
His company has suffered a great about of public backlash ever since the above video appeared online, and its created a public relations nightmare.