While I had never tried to define charisma myself and even after the readings the definition still remains elusive, I had always thought of it as a trait you are born with. However, Riggio challenged this perspective by saying that it is theoretically very possible that charisma could be learned. Riggio breaks charisma down into many components, such as communication skills, self-confidence, and enthusiasm, all of which can be developed. Riggio also makes sure to create boundaries with charisma, saying that just because one possesses charisma, that does not mean that one will be a successful charismatic leader. This brings me to another point I hadn’t considered before. I previously thought of charisma as a one-sided quality possessed by a person, but Riggio emphasizes the importance of the relationship between a leader and their followers in charismatic and transformational leadership.
In highlighting this relationship, Riggio came across surprisingly cynically to me. One of the biggest assets to a charismatic leader is their highly developed communication skills. Riggio described their ability to read the room and then alter their message dependent on it “in order to manipulate the crowd’s reaction”. The use of the word manipulate in conjunction with describing an inspirational leader unsettled me. Typically, we like to view leaders, especially charismatic leaders, as people we can idolize and trust. To think of them using their skillset to manipulate their followers who trust them completely is quite frankly scary. I guess that’s why people such as Hitler and Osama bin Laden are characterized as charismatic leaders in addition to typical positive role models.
I also previously believed that being charismatic is a born trait, but after reading I am open to believing that it can be learned as well. When you mention how Riggio describes how charismatic people know how to read a room and change their approach to how they deliver their message to the crowd, I think that is a skill that can be learned. If you study the psychology of things like people’s body language or education level, then you can know how to talk to and treat those people better than someone who doesn’t pay attention to things like that.