Leadership and Charisma: Two Essential Qualities for a Manager
11 April 2011
Read by 1802 persons
Leadership includes all the characteristics of a manager that their employees want to follow. It is acquired after several years of experience and self-development. Charisma allows one to stand out and focus people's attention on the messages being communicated.
Leadership is undeniably a trendy term, directly borrowed from English, which encompasses all the characteristics of a manager that their collaborators want to follow: a clear vision of objectives, a sense of analysis and synthesis, clear and simple communication with teams, innovation and initiative. However, punctuating professional discussions and the subject of training given to executives, the term "leadership" has become a simple asset that one acquires. It's true that it's acquired. But it's acquired through experience and self-work, and not through a quick method of a few hours of training. Let's not be promised things that are impossible to achieve, simply because it's pleasant to hear.
Beyond the leadership level, we also find a charismatic personality: inspiring, magnetic, spontaneously focusing the attention of those around them on themselves and their ideas. In other words: not only a great professional, but also a great mind.
Case Study
A young woman with twelve years of successful professional experience was appointed regional director of a large company. The kind of promotion that young executives dream of. Once the challenge was met and the positions taken, the young manager began to question her leadership: the authority she enjoyed within the teams and the way she represented her company to external partners. As a good observer, she noticed that some managers unite more easily than others, without making a visible effort to the naked eye, and she made the connection between this state of facts and the manager's intrinsic personality, independent of their technical knowledge. The key question that arose was: how to exercise leadership that is both authoritative and close, especially when one is a beginner in this role? How does a manager's image, physical appearance, clothing style, and voice reinforce or weaken their leadership? In this specific case, executive coaching, focused on personal development, not only provided answers to the manager's questions, but also equipped her to continue progressing autonomously and permanently. Thanks to the "focus on image" and the analysis of various real situations, the young executive in search of her inner strength and leadership discovered the multiple facets of her own personality, including a real magnetism that she could exert on her audience during public speaking situations. She became aware of the real effect she had on people, and then used it to serve her work.
A True Leader Personality
Nature is not egalitarian: it does not give everyone the same abilities and talents. But even the best potential is worth little if the person does not provide personal work to develop it. It is therefore the duty of a leader to live up to their own abilities and the trust placed in them by both their hierarchy and their collaborators. The essential character trait for a manager is the ability to self-challenge, the willingness to set themselves challenges, without being formally obliged to do so. To progress without ever being satisfied with learning, to become the best version of oneself; ultimately: to forge a true leader personality.
Beyond being a manager, we can also discover and cultivate our charisma, that influence on those around us that allows us to stand out and focus people's attention on the messages we want to communicate to them.
To better achieve these objectives, some large companies have a practice of holding top managers accountable for their own personal development.
In practice, this translates into their almost complete autonomy regarding participation in soft skills training and the possible use of coaching. In other words, managers receive individual budgets and they themselves seek what they need to improve their interpersonal skills.
The question of know-how arises mainly at the beginning of a career and at certain transition stages. What will distinguish an ordinary manager from a charismatic manager will be their know-how.
Published April 8, 2011
Posted online April 11, 2011
Lavieeco.com
Leadership is undeniably a trendy term, directly borrowed from English, which encompasses all the characteristics of a manager that their collaborators want to follow: a clear vision of objectives, a sense of analysis and synthesis, clear and simple communication with teams, innovation and initiative. However, punctuating professional discussions and the subject of training given to executives, the term "leadership" has become a simple asset that one acquires. It's true that it's acquired. But it's acquired through experience and self-work, and not through a quick method of a few hours of training. Let's not be promised things that are impossible to achieve, simply because it's pleasant to hear.
Beyond the leadership level, we also find a charismatic personality: inspiring, magnetic, spontaneously focusing the attention of those around them on themselves and their ideas. In other words: not only a great professional, but also a great mind.
Case Study
A young woman with twelve years of successful professional experience was appointed regional director of a large company. The kind of promotion that young executives dream of. Once the challenge was met and the positions taken, the young manager began to question her leadership: the authority she enjoyed within the teams and the way she represented her company to external partners. As a good observer, she noticed that some managers unite more easily than others, without making a visible effort to the naked eye, and she made the connection between this state of facts and the manager's intrinsic personality, independent of their technical knowledge. The key question that arose was: how to exercise leadership that is both authoritative and close, especially when one is a beginner in this role? How does a manager's image, physical appearance, clothing style, and voice reinforce or weaken their leadership? In this specific case, executive coaching, focused on personal development, not only provided answers to the manager's questions, but also equipped her to continue progressing autonomously and permanently. Thanks to the "focus on image" and the analysis of various real situations, the young executive in search of her inner strength and leadership discovered the multiple facets of her own personality, including a real magnetism that she could exert on her audience during public speaking situations. She became aware of the real effect she had on people, and then used it to serve her work.
A True Leader Personality
Nature is not egalitarian: it does not give everyone the same abilities and talents. But even the best potential is worth little if the person does not provide personal work to develop it. It is therefore the duty of a leader to live up to their own abilities and the trust placed in them by both their hierarchy and their collaborators. The essential character trait for a manager is the ability to self-challenge, the willingness to set themselves challenges, without being formally obliged to do so. To progress without ever being satisfied with learning, to become the best version of oneself; ultimately: to forge a true leader personality.
Beyond being a manager, we can also discover and cultivate our charisma, that influence on those around us that allows us to stand out and focus people's attention on the messages we want to communicate to them.
To better achieve these objectives, some large companies have a practice of holding top managers accountable for their own personal development.
In practice, this translates into their almost complete autonomy regarding participation in soft skills training and the possible use of coaching. In other words, managers receive individual budgets and they themselves seek what they need to improve their interpersonal skills.
The question of know-how arises mainly at the beginning of a career and at certain transition stages. What will distinguish an ordinary manager from a charismatic manager will be their know-how.
Published April 8, 2011
Posted online April 11, 2011
Lavieeco.com
