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12tacticstobecomemorecharismaticandinfluential
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200Europeanthoughtleadersand
entrepreneurswriteforWhiteboard:whatareyou
waitingfor?Jointoday!

Whatisitthatmakesleadersstandoutwhatmakespeoplewanttoleavecushycorporatejobsfor
theirstartupideas,voteforthem,givethemmoneyfortheirwildideas,inaword:followthem?
LIKEUS

AccordingtoprofessorJohnAntonakis,aprofessoroforganisationalbehaviourattheUniversityof
Lausanne,theanswerissimple:theyrecharismatic.
Heevendevelopedacharismamodeltopredictwhopeoplewillvotefor:

Obama or Romney: Who will win and by how much? HEC ...

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And,hesays,youcanlearncharisma.

Stripe'sfirstacquisition:anacquihireoftheBelgian
teambehindKickoff

Antonakisandhiscolleaguesdevelopedbothatrainingtobecomemorecharismatic,andatestto

March11,2013

seewhetherthetrainingworked.Wetestedwhetherwecouldteachindividualstobehavemore
charismatically,andwhetherchangesincharismaaffectedleaderoutcomes.Andguesswhat:
Resultsfromthestudiesindicatedthatthetraininghadsignificanteffectsonratingsofleader
charisma.

TheMicrosoftslaponthewristcomesinat561
million
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RocketInternet'sAfricanecommerceJumiaraises$
26million
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SaysAntonakis:anyonetrainedinwhatwecallcharismaticleadershiptactics(CLTs)canbecome
moreinfluential,trustworthy,andleaderlikeintheeyesofothers.Herearethe12tacticsthat
Antonakisrecommendsforpeoplewantingtobecomemorecharismatic.
Thefirst9ofthemareverbaltactics.

Use(1)metaphors,similes,analogies
Metaphors,similesandanalogiesworksowellbecausetheymakemessageeasiertounderstand
andconnectto.
InablogontheHarvardBusinessReview,AntonakisgivestheexampleofMartinLutherKing,who
comparedthecivilrightssituationofblackAmericanstoreceivingabadcheck,whichgetssentback
becauseofinsufficientfunds.Thismessageisimmediatelycleartoanyone(oraswesayinDutch,it
doesntneedadrawing).

Tell(2)storiesandanecdotes
ThisiswhatBarackObamadoesoften:hetellsstoriesabouthisownlife,toclarifyhispositionon
thornyissues.Heusedittogreateffectinhisinstantlyfamousspeechonraceinthe2008elections.
Infact,Obamamightusethistechniquetoooften,accordingtorecentcritiques.Inascathingpiece
titledWearegatheredheretodaytohearmoreaboutme,SlaterecentlyblastedObamafortalking
toomuchabouthimself:
Obamalikestoseeeventsthroughthelensofhisownlifeschronology.Thuswelearnthat
InouyewaselectedtotheSenatewhenObamawas2yearsold.Nowyoucouldmakethis
relevantbydescribinghowInouyeworkedtosendfederaldollars(youdonthavetocallitpork
atafuneral)totransformHawaiisroadsandschools,forexample,sothattheHawaiiObama
grewupinhadthekindoffacilitiespeopleonthemainlandhadlongtakenforgranted.Butno,
wesimplylearnthatInouyewasObamassenatoruntilheleftthestatetogotocollege
somethingapparentlymoremomentousthananythingInouyedidduringhisdecadesinoffice.
So,dontgooverboardwhenusingthis.

(3)Usecontrasts
Contrastiseffectivebecauseitcombinesbothreasonandpassion,saysAntonakis.Hegivesthe
exampleofamanagerthathetrainedintheuseofthesetechniques:aseniorVP,speakingtoa
directreportmanagingastagnantteam:Itseemstomethatyoureplayingtoomuchdefensewhen
youneedtobeplayingmoreoffense.ButthemostfamoususeofcontrastisprobablyJohnF.
Kennedysdontaskwhatyourcountrycandoforyou,askwhatyoucandoforyourcountry.
AccordingtoAntonakisresearch,contrastsarehighlyeffective,buttheyarentusedoftenenough.
Sowhenyourepreparingthatimportantpresentation,trytothinkabouthowtobringmorecontrast
intoit.

(4)Askrhetoricalquestions
Rhetoricalquestionsmightseemtired,butdontbedeterred:theywork.HeresanexampleAntonakis
givesofarhetoricalquestionusedbyanITexecutivewhoneededtopushbackattheunrealistic
goalsbeingsetforhim:Howcanyouexpectmetochangeanengineinaplanemidflight?

(5)Usethreepartlists
Weactuallyhadablogaboutthreepartlistshererecently,inwhichMichaelVanDammeexplained
thathefoundMalcolmGladwellsuseofthreepartlistsveryeffective,whileatthesametimefeeling
thatGladwellwasntespeciallyconvincingscientifically.Themanagersintheaudience,henoted,
didntparticularlycareaboutthescientificunderpinnings:theyjustlovedit.
Threepartlistswork,saysAntonakis,becausetheyareaccessibleandeasytounderstand.One

Publicinnovationfundingispredominantlygoingto
bigplayers
March05,2013

examplehegivesisamanagertellinghisteam:Wehavethebestproduct.Wehavethebestteam.
Butwedidntmakeourtargets.
Everyonehearingthiscanimmediatelygraspthemessage:somethingisntrighthere.

(6)Expressionsofmoralconvictionand(7)reflectionsofthegroups
sentiments
Antonakisillustratesthispointwithaquotefromoneofhistrainees,talkingtoateamthathad
sufferedsomesetbacks.
Hesaidtotheteam:Iknowwhatisgoingthroughyourminds,becausethesamethingisgoing
throughmine.Weallfeeldisappointedanddemotivated.Someofyouhavetoldmeyouhavehad
sleeplessnightsothers,thattherearetensionsintheteam,evenathomebecauseofthis.
Personally,lifetomehasbecomedullandtasteless.Iknowhowhardwehaveallworkedandthe
bitternesswefeelbecausesuccessjustslippedoutofourreach.Butitsnotgoingtobelikethisfor
muchlonger.Ihaveaplan.

(8)Sethighgoalsand(9)projectconfidencethatthegoalscanbeachieved.
Here,AntonakispointstoGhandiasanexample.GhandisaidthathewouldendtheBritish
occupationofIndiawithoutviolencewhichmanythoughtwasimpossible.Butnotonlydidhestate
ridiculouslyhighgoals,healsoprojectedconfidencethathecouldpullitoff:EvenifalltheUnited
Nationsopposesme,evenifthewholeofIndiaforsakesme,Iwillsay,Youarewrong.Indiawill
wrenchwithnonviolenceherlibertyfromunwillinghands.
Inbusiness,afamousexampleisthatofSharpCEOKatsuhikoMachida,saysAntonakis.In1998
cathoderaytubesdominatedtheTVmarket,andtheideaofusingLCDtechnologywascommercially
unviable.ButMachidabetthecompanyonLCD,saying:By2005,allTVswesellinJapanwillbe
LCDmodels.Hepulleditoff(todaySharpisfacinghugedifficultiesagain,butthatsanotherstory).
Andthenforthethreenonverbaltechniques:

Usean(9)animatedvoice,(10)facialexpressionsand(12)gestures
AquitedramaticpicturefromthepaperAntonakispublishedmakesitimmediatelyclearwhatsome
trainingcanachieve:checkoutthenarrownessoftheprofileoftheparticipantbeforethetraining,
andwatchhowhegrabsthestageafterwards,withbigger,boldergestures.
Whichofthesetwoguyswouldyouputinchargeofyournewproject?

Howtotrainyourselftobecomemorecharismatic?

Youcouldfollowthetrainingthatprof.Antonakisgives.ButifyoucantmakeittoLausanne:partof
thetrainingseemstoconsistinwatchingvideosorlisteningtorecordingsoffamousleadersgiving
speeches(Obama,MartinLutherKing,Churchill,Ghandi).
Itwouldbeevenbettertotrainthisinsmallgroupsorevenjustwithoneotherpartner.Hereshow
Antonakisexplainstheprocessinhispaper:
Wefocusedonexplainingtomanagerstheimportanceofcharismaticleadershipandhighlighted
howcharismacouldbeengenderedbydisplayingtheCLTs.Wealsomadeextensiveuseoffilm
scenesdemonstratingcharisma(e.g.,fromTrueBlue,ReversalofFortune,DeadPoetsSociety,Any
GivenSunday)soparticipantscouldseethetheorybehindtheCLTsinpractice.
Duringtheworkshop,participantswereputingroupsof2anddevelopedashortspeech.Weasked
participantstocreateascenario(hypotheticalorbasedonarealsituation)wheretheywere
addressingtheirfollowersaboutaparticularissue.
Eachpairofparticipantsnominatedonepersontopresentthespeech,andtheintervener,together
withtheotherparticipants,providedthepresenterswithfeedbackontheiruseofcharismaticleader
tactics.
Also,itsimportanttonotethat9ofthe12techniquesareverbal.Thatmeansthatcharismaisnt
purelysomemagicalqualitythatyouhaveordonthave.Ithaslesstodowithwhoyouarethan
withwhatyousay.Changingwhatyousayisaloteasierthanchangingwhoyouare.
Withtheoutlinewegivehereandsomenotetaking,itshouldntbetoohardtotrainyourselftousea
fewofthesetechniquesandincorporatetheminyourdailyroutine.
Letusknowhowyoufare!

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