Charismatic leaders have sax appeal

By MEA CEO, Peter McDonald

I hope readers are not only aware that registration, sponsorship and exhibition opportunities have been put to market for Evolve 2023, but they are actively considering these.

The conference theme this year is ‘Succeeding through leadership, empowerment and connection’, and I want to use this and my next couple of articles as a mechanism to explore those three concepts a little more, somewhat as scene setters.

I’ll start with leadership. I know that it can be one of those overused in business buzzwords like innovation and sustainability are coming to be – at least in my opinion – but as with those, mastery of it lays a foundation for ongoing success.

In particular, charismatic leadership.

We’re instinctively drawn to people with charisma.

A good leader can successfully inspire people about a vision and motivate them in the means to achieve it. A charismatic leader additionally has charm, personality and persuasiveness to draw even more people to the cause. They possess both warmth and competence. They have an aura. In a workplace environment they raise morale, encourage hard work and foster pride.

But is charisma innate, or can it be learnt? Those who envy people they perceive to have it need worry not. There is a researched school of thought that it is acquirable. But like everything it requires application and practice.

One philosophy to be a charismatic leader is to apply three Cs: be confident, be compassionate and communicate. An unashamed personal demeanour encourages others to simulate your words and actions. Being generally more mindful and applying a higher emotional quotient enables you to have strong interpersonal skills. Instead of micromanaging each task, provide clear instructions and trust your team members to accomplish them.

Alternatively, charismatic people can be said to possess 12 traits: self-awareness; warmth; competence; relaxed and open body language; socialise where they’re comfortable; active listeners; playful; self-control; humble; maintain good eye contact; share and spread praise; and, remember people’s names.

Where once technical capacity is what saw people progress, people skills have become the primary career x-factor. It’s been that way for a while, but I fear the loss of ‘match fitness’ that’s occurred in recent years as we became dissociated can only be recovered through training and practical application. Cue Evolve.

Let it be said that charismatic leadership isn’t always beneficial. Adolf Hitler and David Koresh are two examples of people who had clear visions and were successfully able to rally people behind those. Not a happy outcome in either situation. Thankfully there are several more positive examples: Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Eva Peron, Aung San Suu Kyi, to name some.

I reckon if there was ever a musical instrument that were to be the hero image of charisma it would be the saxophone. It’s always readily detectable amidst the chorus of sounds of the band and it features in its own right within a song. Think George Michael’s Careless Whisper, Van Morrison’s Moondance, Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes’ Time of Your Life, Tina Turner’s (Simply) The Best and Jackson Browne and Clarence Clemons’ You’re a Friend of Mine to name but a few. Whether played soulfully or with attitude, it stands out over all else for all the right reasons.

Misgivings aside, I’ve always perceived former US President Bill Clinton to be charismatic. Ironically, Clinton plays the saxophone.

So I suggest that as our industry seeks to retain and rebuild its workforce, people in leadership roles within it need to ‘bring it’ with their ‘sax appeal’. Fleur East would seemingly agree. If employees are to a business what she is to her song Sax, leaders might want to heed her lyrics:

If you wanna hear me sing
You better play that sax
Give it to me!

If your leadership knowledge or skills need replenishment, or if the prospect of being a mighty fine analogous saxophonist appeals, you can book your ticket Evolve ticket here.

Source:

Song – “Sax” 

Artist – Fleur East

Album – “Love, Sax and Flashbacks”