The differing definitions of charisma make it a fluid concept, but the ability of individuals to emotionally resonate with others is the key element of the term. A person’s ability to relate to others is the most important and powerful aspect of charisma because it inspires others, thus leading them into action. Riggio emphasizes this point when he mentions how, “…perhaps [the] most important to perceptions of charisma is emotional expressiveness—the ability to convey feelings and emotions accurately and effectively to others. Charismatic individuals use their emotional expressiveness to arouse and inspire others and to spur them to action” (Page 3, Sage). Riggio’s declaration that individuals who can connect to people will cause others to act on their behalf, shows the potential power of charisma. The ability to get a following, is a common trait of many famous charismatic individuals. Ghandi is a prime example of a charismatic individual, who used his personality and expressiveness to inspire others to act on his behalf during India’s fight for independence. While emotional expressiveness is a potential agent of good, it can be used in much more sinister ways. Hitler comes to mind with the way he was able to agitate the German people over the current state of the country, and inspire them into action against the world and the Jewish population. While Ghandi and Hitler used their ability to connect to people in differing ways, it showed the power that charismatic individuals have over others. Connecting to others is in fact the true power of emotional expressiveness, and charisma as a whole, because it allows an individual to extend their will out to their followers and have them act on their behalf. This is why a person who resonates with others is more likely to have success, and in turn be thought of as a charismatic individual
Riggio and Charisma
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Bringing up how Hitler used his power to rally the people in a bad way was a very unique and important perspective to the topic of leadership and charisma. I think that it ties into the characteristic of manipulation that was also stated to be a desired quality of charismatic people in order to have that emotional communication with the people they are targeting.
The idea of emotional expression really captures the essence of charisma. The ability to communicate in a way that, as you said, can gather a following, is a very powerful tool that can be used for good or bad. One of the first examples that comes to mind for me is Ronald Reagan’s nickname “The Great Communicator.” Understanding people’s emotions and being able to respond to them in a way that builds a following was a big part of Reagan;s campaigning strategies., similar to many other politicians.
I really liked how you were able to compare Hitler and Ghandi’s charismatic leadership, while using the same definition of a charismatic leader. While both leaders drew on their followers’ emotional receptiveness, Hitler used his charismatic traits for evil and Ghandi used his for good.
I like the point that charisma can be used in a powerful way to get people to rally behind a positive or negative ideas and actions. It is important to see how people use this characteristic when in power and how people respond to it. It also shows what a powerful tool it is since people can use it to get a response in negative ways.
I really like your post and your ability to fight both sides of charisma as it is a fact that this is the case. It can be used in a positive matter to appear as charming and attractive and come off as an extremely nice personality but on the other hand it can also be used very negatively and be used, like you said, in a satanic manner.