The Liability of Charisma

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Charisma can be a liability for a leader, while humility is a leadership imperative.

Often when we think of an image of a great leader Steve Jobs unveiling the iPhone, a General whipping up their troops before battle, or a coach giving a stirring half time speech come to mind. But the more I’m around great leaders and the longer I’m part of great teams the more suspicious I am of charisma as an indicator of an effective leader.

Charisma may be useful in those times when you’re looking to recruit others to your cause as you take something from zero to one or need a short burst of intensity to get something across the finish line. Ultimately though charisma is the sugar high, quick burning fuel that leads to the inevitable crash and is not the necessary ingredient for a leader to build great, enduring teams.

Disagree, Debate, Commit

Good to Great and The Outsiders (the non-fiction version) are two of my favorite leadership books related to business. Each, in their own way, study leaders at some of the great companies of the 20th and early 21st centuries. A common theme in each of these books is the idea that the personalities of the most successful leaders are often at odds with our stereotypical ideal of what a leader should be.

Indeed, the title of this post comes from a Jim Collins quote related to charisma:

Many of the problems charisma creates come from an inability to see the world as it is because you foster an environment where the appearance of success, or good work is more important than the unvarnished, substantive truth of reality.

One of the surest ways to tell if your charisma is impeding your ability to lead a successful team is to ask yourself when the last time someone who reports to you disagreed with you directly. Even better if they did so in a group setting.

If you can’t immediately think of an example from this week, you can be sure that your charisma is bulldozing the best ideas of your team.

Effective leaders don’t think of themselves as gurus with all the answers, rather they take the Team of Rivals approach as so eloquently chronicled by Doris Kearns Goodwin with respect to Abraham Lincoln stacking his cabinet with people he knew would disagree with each other.

As a leader, your job is to act as a moderator and make a decision when the time comes. The contract you ask of those who report to you is to debate rigorously, but respectfully, and then commit to the course of action which the group decides even if it is not the one they advocated for.

Competence > Charisma

I firmly believe that if you are interested in creating an enduring team that is successful over the long run cultivating competence in yourself and those around you is much more important than hiring for or exuding charisma in yourself.

Charismatic leaders too often surround themselves with sycophants keen to tell them exactly what they want to hear because their ego cannot contend with the reality of the game on the field.

Quiet competence on the other hand, acts as a magnet attracting the best to your team. A-players want to work with other A-players. If you look to surround yourself with competent, humble individuals your chances of building a successful, enduring team will be much greater than if your chief hiring criteria is to find those who soothe your ego.

Competence is greater than charisma.

Humility is a Leadership Imperative

A personal mantra I’ve worked to live by since I was a Marine is the idea that two criteria more than any others lead to success, humility and determination.

A leader who is humble, determined, and focused on winning the decade rather than the day is very hard to beat.

Humility in leadership is tightly aligned with ownership, the idea that great leaders always take responsibility for the failures of their team while quickly giving credit to the broader team when successful.

This is the only way.

If your team fails, falls short of the mark, doesn’t find success it is because you failed to hire well, you did not train them well enough, you did not communicate your standards clearly enough, you did not hold them accountable correctly. Period. Full stop.

When your team succeeds it is because of their discipline, mindset, tenacity, and competence. Give them due credit and refocus them to what’s next.

If your ego cannot handle being told you’re wrong, if you look for who to blame when your team falls short, if you must take credit yourself when your team finds success then you have no business being a leader.

Conversely, if being told you’re wrong excites you because you know you’re sharpening your plan, if you agree at your core that your team’s failings are a reflection of you, and if nothing gives you more joy then seeing your team celebrated when they are successful then look no further! You should pursue a path in leadership as anything else will feel unfulfilling.

Conclusion

Remember the trappings of charisma as you look to build teams which are enduringly successful over the long run.

Keep in mind effective leaders build teams that are capable of disagreeing, debating, and committing.

Effective leaders realize that competence is greater than charisma.

Effective leaders understand that humility is a leadership imperative.

See y’all next week.