Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, an expert in personal profiling and psychometrics and professor of organisational psychology at University College London and New York University, writes about this in an interesting article for Harvard Business Review. In his view, charisma brings with it four fundamental problems:
1. A weakening of judgment
A charismatic leader influences others with his personal charisma and not necessarily sense. When that charisma is lost, he has the tendency to assert his authority with force and become a dictator.
2. Addiction
A leader whose personal charisma has an effect on people fast becomes used to their admiration. They, on the other hand, fast become used to his charisma, which deflects both sides from their objectives.
3. Psychopathism
Not all charismatic people are psychopaths. Many psychopaths, however, have powerful charisma because this charisma allows them to conceal their antisocial tendencies. Egocentrism, manipulation, lies: these all help politicians and managers on an upward career path. Many people move upwards thanks to problems with their own authority.
4. Collective narcissism
A leader’s charisma encourages collective adoration among his followers, who more or less become radical copies of their leader.
How, then, do we avoid the dangers associated with charismatic leaders? Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic advises you to choose leaders using scientifically verified evaluation tools and not to rely on “chemistry” or intuition. Look for hidden talents with more advantages than merely having strong personal charisma; for example, women.
-kk-