. Instaread - Summary of the Charisma Myth: by Olivia Fox Cabane

Guide to

Olivia Fox Cabanes

The Charisma Myth

How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism

by

Instaread

Please Note

This is a companion to the original book.

Copyright 2016 by Instaread. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the prior written consent of the publisher.

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Table of Contents

The Charisma Myth by Olivia Fox Cabane is a book in the self-help genre that instructs the reader on how to develop and maintain a charismatic persona in business and personal life. The stereotype is that charismatic people are born with this trait and that it cannot be learned. In reality, charisma is a skill that can be developed, turned on and off, and used in different forms depending on what the situation requires.

Charisma is communicated through conversation and body language. It is identified with power, warmth, and presence. Those traits combine to create four different types of charisma: focus, vision, kindness, and authority. Internal obstacles can undermine a charismatic demeanor, and overcoming those obstacles requires resolving physical discomfort, anxiety, and doubt with the use of perspective-shifting exercises.

Uncharismatic people can enhance their personal magnetism by mimicking the body language and conversational habits associated with charismatic people, because the brain can be tricked into behaving with charisma. A few of these behaviors include pausing before answering questions, maintaining eye contact while listening, and taking a wide stance. Charisma can smooth relations with difficult people through compassion and heightened presence, and it can ease the task of delivering bad news or criticism. A charismatic first impression can create long-term benefits due to the approval of others.

There are some drawbacks to having charisma, which include incurring envy from others, or accidentally earning too much trust from others, resulting in embarrassing over-sharing. These drawbacks can be prevented with various strategies.

Olivia Fox Cabane is a corporate consultant who specializes in increasing and managing charisma. She lectures at business schools and is the current director of Innovative Leadership for the StartX program at Stanford University.

Steve Jobs (1955-2011) was the co-founder and chief executive officer of Apple, Inc., and a visionary for the mobile device revolution.

The 14th Dalai Lama is a leading monk of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. He is well known for advocating for peace and compassion.

Bill Clinton was the 42nd president of the United States. Before that he was governor of Arkansas.

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, served as the prime minister of Britain from 1874 to 1880.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was a founding father of the United States, a diplomat for the country, its first postmaster general, an inventor, and a philosopher.

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was prime minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War.

1. C harisma is the ability to attract attention and admiration from others. It is a skill that can be developed, but requires willpower that can be depleted.
2. Charismatic people exude presence, warmth, and power. The internal state of mind enables body language to communicate these traits to others.
3. Pretending to have charisma achieves equal effects as having it.
4. Anxiety, self-doubt, and discomfort can undermine charisma through other types of body language. Methods of reducing this tendency include exercises that change internal perceptions of responsibility and reality.
5. A mental outlook conducive to conveying charisma can be practiced, cultivated, and reinforced.
6. The four most significant types of charisma are focus charisma, visionary charisma, kindness charisma, and authority charisma. They each create different reactions in others and require different cues to utilize.
7. Charismatic first impressions can lead to long-term impressions of trustworthiness and effectiveness.
8. Conveying charisma in a conversation involves more listening than speaking.
9. Charismatic behaviors can smooth unpleasant conversations and interactions with difficult people.
10. Strategies for creating a charismatic presentation include encouraging the audience to ask questions, dressing comfortably, rehearsing, maintaining a powerful stance, projecting warm compassion, breathing comfortably, and slowing down.
11. To use charisma in a crisis, people should remain calm, describe the high standards to which they will be holding others and their confidence that they will succeed, express a clear vision for the future, and act without hesitation.
12. Exhibiting charisma can lead to drawbacks when others place too much trust in the charismatic person.

Charisma is the ability to attract attention and admiration from others. It is a skill that can be developed, but requires willpower that can be depleted.

Analysis

Charismatic people exhibit personal magnetism, are well liked, can achieve more in negotiations, and find it easier to sway others to their side of a debate. People are more likely to follow a charismatic individual and accept his or her vision for themselves. Charisma can be learned, and turned on or off as needed, although it requires willpower to activate and can be especially difficult for introverts.

Charismatic people from history are unlikely to have received a formal education in how to be charismatic, and in many cases they include people who received less formal education than other equally or less charismatic people. For example, Malcolm X, one of the most influential civil rights leaders of the 1950s and 60s and the leader of the Nation of Islam, dropped out of formal education in middle school when a teacher told him that his goal of going to law school was unrealistic. In contrast to people such as Winston Churchill, who were charismatic but received a long and character-building education, Malcolm X learned about charisma from other charismatic people he met. Using these skills, he led thousands in resistance to repressive policies and left a lasting impact on the civil rights community and the way the world views the Muslim community. [1]

Charismatic people exude presence, warmth, and power. The internal state of mind enables body language to communicate these traits to others.

Analysis

The three factors that make up charisma are complete presence in the current interaction, compassionate warmth toward others, and the impression of having a lot of power to make things happen. Individuals with charisma must feel these traits internally to use them convincingly.

The people that a charismatic person meets might not know that charisma is affecting their first impressions or willingness to negotiate, but they could read these traits as a way to determine with whom they will form alliances. A person with power, and the generosity to use it for others, would be an ideal friend to have in business and personal life, so logically people respond with a desire to please the people who appear to be generous with their power.