He has A Gift: The Myth of Charisma

What is Charisma? You've seen them: The person that just inspires others. Perfect hair, perfect uniform, intelligent, articulate, he wins people to his side by word and action. One phrase I like to use for this is "Motivation By Walking In The Room" - the theory being that people "perk up" just because they are in the presence of this person.

Last time, we talked about Charisma and how it helps influence people, but isn't absolutely essential. This month, we'll examine two instances where overly relying on Charisma is dangerous: The True Believer and The House Of Cards.

The True Believer

So, you have a person who is charismatic, passionate, and who attracts and keeps friends and allies easily. The True Believer is popular, and elected to positions in CAC or appointed to command roles. He just doesn't … do anything. And, all too often, no one notices. The True Believer may be deeply, personally involved in Drill Team - may run fast and look good in uniform, and Command the squadron/wing/region drill team for multiple years. Yet the Team never really improves much; it may stagnate and begin to fall apart, but the True Believer always comes out smelling like a rose. Credit for success comes the way of the True Believer - but, when the ball is dropped, no one seems to notice. (After all, C/Capt Smith is so wonderful. It just never occurs to anyone to examine his actions at XX Wing Conference too closely …)

The results of this are all too clear: C/Capt Smith may have a wonderful career in CAP, but nothing really gets done. He's all Charisma and no content. As we said last month, it's possible to have a good career with Charisma alone. But if you want to make a real difference, you've got to build something of meaning.

Building with Charisma: The house of Cards

The thing is, trying to build on Charisma Alone can become an even bigger problem. Here's an example:

Senior Member Capt. Smith is an intelligent, experienced officer who knows CAPR 52-16 backwards and forwards. He puts a squadron schedule, promotion board system, and drill team in place, answering any and all questions the Cadet Commander asks. Soon, he is promoted to Major and becomes Squadron Commander.

Over the next few years, Maj. Smith uses his influence and Charisma to attract and keep high quality talent, and he creates a way of doing things which works very well. (It could be a SOP, or "Standard Operating Procedure", but it only exists in his head.) When his subordinates have a question, they ask him. Since he knows the regulations so well, he can quote an answer from memory. His squadron quadruples in size, and three years later, he's offered a job on the wing staff, which he accepts. (Or he gets burned out and quits, or his day-job transfers him away; take your pick.)

The members who were only sticking around because they could hang out with Maj. Smith quit within six months. Some other members quit because their friends quit, etc. None of the Seniors who are left have worked with cadet programs, so the cadet commander hobbles together his own makeshift schedule - until a change of command, at which point the new cadet commander has no experience and no one to guide him. The new squadron commander, when asked questions, feels free to make up whatever he likes (after all, that's how the old squadron commander appeared to him, and it worked), and, within two years, the great things that allowed the squadron to quadruple are all gone.

Worst of all, the downward slope to destroy a squadron is a much easier road than the uphill climb to build it. The squadron may languish for five or ten years until another bright officer with good ideas comes along … until he gets burned out.

Conclusions

While Charisma can be a good way to motivate people quickly, in the long run, Charisma alone doesn't build anything. Even Charisma mixed with competence can become building a house of cards - remove the key piece, and it can all come tumbling down. The only long-term solution is to invest time in our subordinates. The only solution is to teach, mentor, and document policies and procedures while keeping constant training, so those coming after you don't need to be spoon fed. Good officers work to make themselves obsolete. The best officers can actually pull it off.

Matthew Heusser, Capt, CAP
Leadership Officer, GLR-MI-265

Comments, thoughts, criticisms, complaints? I’m looking for feedback. Please feel free to drop me an email.

Sidebar:

I recently saw High Performance Nonprofit Organizations: Managing Upstream for Greater Impact by Christine W. Letts on Amazon.Com. The book claims to teach leaders how to motivate, train, retain, and keep quality subordinates and staff. If it’s true, then it’s a must-have. Are you willing to read and review it? Send me you review, and you could get some free space and credit in a future article …