I always find myself under the spell of the charismatic, in real life and online.
The power of charisma shines through in a person’s online activity, making them, quite simply, really likeable. They listen, are positive and authentic and as a community manager, I actively try to eke out any ounce of my charisma that I have naturally as well as trying to learn from the insanely likeable.

The effect of charisma became glaringly clear after I read an article published by Psychology Today that detailed and quantified its impact on business communication. The article was based on a study that followed an executive education course that culminated in a presentation. The presentations were given in teams and the study highlighted the traits of the team that communicated its final presentation most successfully. I’ll give one guess on a trait that led to success: Charismatic team members. Or what the study called “energetic but focused listeners.” This type of team member helped lead a team to success by enabling higher quality brainstorm sessions, and as a result these teams had “high levels of engagement, trust, and cooperation.” Insert light bulb moment here.

(more…)