Whenever things get rough in an organization there is an out cry for more leadership. It should probably be a cry for better leadership. Charismatic leaders are organizational heroes who though sheer magnetism turn things toward dramatic change. They have a remarkable idea to distill complex ideas into simple messages. They embrace risk and are great optimists. They are often rebels who fight against the status quo. Charisma does not guarantee success. The cost of following the wrong vision can be worse than no vision at all. The long term cost of an oversimplification of a complex issue can be expensive indeed. Charismatic leaders are so addicted to challenge and change they rarely stay in one place long. When they depart a vacuum is created destabilizing any change, mission or progress they may have achieved. “Charisma is a tricky thing. Jack Kennedy oozed it-but so did Hitler and Charles Manson. Con artists, charlatans, and megalomaniacs can make it their instrument as effectively as the best CEO’s entertainers, and Presidents. Used wisely, it’s a blessing; indulged, it can be a curse. Charismatic visionaries lead people ahead-and sometimes astray.” Fortune, January 15, 1996 We may be the first generation not looking for charismatic national figures to lead us. According to a poll conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, many of us now believe small groups of resourceful individuals with practical know-how will take the lead instead of big institutions, experts, and/or authority figures. Can you say “blog-eprenuers”? Reg Adkins writes on behavior and the human experience at (elementaltruths.blogspot.com).
