Speaking with Professor John Antonakis means sitting opposite one of the greatest specialists in charismatic leadership and the guarantee of witnessing at the same time the best imitation of Margaret Thatcher. This eminent Greek-Swiss researcher has studied and knows inside out the most famous speeches of the leaders of this world, including the Iron Lady. “She was cold and spoke in a very flat way, without body language, but she was charismatic because what she said was extremely strong.” If you thought charisma was all about looks or presence, you’ll be surprised. “Some leadership ‘gurus’ who are very present on the bookstore shelves say that you have to have a presence, but what exactly is presence? How do you measure it? points out this professor of organizational behavior at HEC Lausanne, who defends a scientific approach.
From his work, we will first remember that charisma is a communication process which transmits certain information based on values, symbols, emotions. Which influence observers and their behavior. “For decades, management psychologists made a very big mistake in using questionnaires to measure charisma.” His own method? Use computers that analyze speeches, because unlike the people surveyed, “computer devices don’t care if you’re ugly or not, if you’re a man or not. They analyze the text. And that’s a way to measure charisma objectively.”
With peers, this researcher identified twelve tactics of charismatic leadership (TLC), nine verbal and three non-verbal. In the first category, we find analogies, anecdotes or even metaphors which Aristotle said were the mark of genius. A technique that makes it possible to better unite opinion around a vision. Martin Luther King and his famous speech “I have a dream” is the very example: “No, we are not satisfied and never will be, until law springs up like water, and justice like an inexhaustible torrent.” Another key technique: contrast, used by JFK in his 1961 inaugural speech (“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”). And the three non-verbal communication techniques? Gestures, facial expressions and voice modulation also count but they should not be overestimated, the substance of the speech is much more important, warns John Antonakis. “Non-verbal is a bit like the icing on a cake. It’s pretty but we don’t eat it. And see, that’s a metaphor [rires].“
“Charisma in the hands of a person who is not an expert is dangerous”
But then, are we all equal when it comes to charisma? In Greek, the term translates as “gift of divine origin”. “Sociologist Max Weber took up this concept, describing it as an alchemical power that some people have and others do not. After him, other sociologists wrote extensively about charisma and reinforced the idea that it is a mystical gift without ever trying to define the concept, nor to measure it”, recalls John Antonakis.
No gift from the gods then, but don’t think that anyone can become charismatic with a simple snap of their fingers. “Charisma is linked to the intelligence of the person and also to their learning environment. Being able to speak in a symbolic way requires a lot of cognitive abilities,” describes our specialist, who insists on one last point. The sine qua non condition of good charismatic leadership is expertise. Being able to speak symbolically and project an achievable vision requires knowing your field well. “Charisma in the hands of someone who is not an expert is dangerous. Take the case of Trump, he didn’t know what he was talking about when he was elected in 2016. That’s the problem with populists, they always put forward the arguments that others want to hear. swing States like Ohio, Pennsylvania or Michigan, he won because people there were very frustrated about losing their jobs and he managed to put into words their frustration, their hopes, their rage.”