Does Charisma Matter?

According to Henry Mance, writing in the Financial Times, charisma matters.

In 2013, a hospital in Birmingham, UK, hired workers to help with a Christmas fundraising campaign. Some of the workers were given a charismatic induction speech, in which a professional actor told them they were doing ‘something special.’ He used his arms to make his point. The same man delivered a serviceable but less charismatic speech to other workers.

By the end, the workers who had been given the charismatic speech had stuffed 17 per cent more envelopes than those who had heard the standard speech. Charisma had motivated the workers almost as much as the chance of a bonus, according to researchers at the universities of Lausanne, Milan and Zurich. Inspiration rivals compensation for outcomes.

Nicola Sturgeon served as first minister of Scotland for more than eight years, from November 2014 to March 2023. She took the SNP to new electoral heights.

In 2015, the party won 50% of the Scottish vote in the UK general election and won 56 of the 59 seats. 

Under Sturgeon, party membership surged and the SNP entrenched itself as the dominant party of government in Scotland. No other Scottish leader had achieved anything like it.

But she was not without her critics. According to former SNP MP Joanna Cherry in the Scottish Daily Mail, Cherry says of Sturgeon, ‘She repeatedly promised a second referendum she knew she could not deliver, issuing a never-ending list of dates and targets which she missed.’ But did Sturgeon believe she could not deliver a second referendum or did she believe that she could but failed?

Farage is also full of promises that many voters believe he cannot deliver if he were to come to power. One such far-fetched idea is his immigration plan to pay the Taliban and the Iranian regime to take back their asylum seekers.  Like Sturgeon, Farage is brilliant at picking up on what people want and delivers answers with heartfelt emotion, which people want to believe because he is addressing their fears. They want to believe that he can deliver a solution - and no doubt Farage honestly thinks he can find a solution - even if his first ideas may be somewhat far-fetched.

According to Michael Kinsey, PhD, charisma is closely aligned with people who believe their own rhetoric. If someone believes what they say, other people are likely to believe them too. Humans are amazingly sophisticated when it comes to interpreting social behaviour. We’ll naturally spot any incongruity between what a person says and how they behave. When someone lacks conviction in something, most people can detect the discrepancy between the words and the delivery. They like people who not only believe in what they say but believe it with a passion; they are emotional about what they believe in. People are drawn to these people, whether political leaders or salesmen.

The con man tricks you into parting with your money even though you may doubt that what is being sold will deliver on his promises, but his words are full of emotion that you dismiss your doubts and buy what he is selling - you want to believe in his promises because he is passionate about the benefits it will deliver.

The truth of the matter is that, despite what we may think, humans make most decisions based on how they feel. Feelings are activities of the ‘right’ brain and decisions made on feelings are invariably a ‘no brainer’. It is only when the left brain is triggered by arousing the innate fear of the influence of strangers or an overt ‘sales pitch’ full of facts and devoid of feeling, does the logical brain step in at which point the answer is usually no.

What can professional advisers learn from this research? Facts are often dull and tend to engage the left brain, prompting it to approach the problem in a logical manner. Facts can be presented as a story that appeals to the right brain and leaves the left brain unaroused.

The left brain is always triggered by a ‘sales pitch’, which is otherwise known as the innate fear of the influence of strangers. It is that feeling of disgust when you are stuck listening to someone trying to persuade you to do or buy something.

However, psychological research reveals that one way to sidestep this innate fear is through case studies. They are not a sales pitch, because they tell a story about a real situation and how the problem was solved by taking professional advice. They are engaging, memorable and human.

But stories also serve another critical function. Most professional advisers view their services in terms of facts: investments that deliver the best return, the new non-dom rules, or the best area of London likely to retain its value.

Case studies are an excellent way for professionals to put themselves in their clients' shoes - how did their clients benefit from the advice they provided? 

How did it make them feel?  

Ironically, the more time spent writing case stories, the more a professional will begin to see the value of their service from the client's perspective, which also serves to increase their belief in the benefits of the service they provide. 

This is why case studies are the cornerstone of Caroline’s Club’s methodology in strategic business development. To learn more, click the Training Sessions button below.