The Transformational Powers of Charismatic Leaders

How Charismatic Leaders Promote and Manage Their Image

Edward Brown, M.S., of Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute provides questions and answers about how charismatic leaders use image management to persuade and influence others.

Q: What does the term, “Setting the stage,” mean for image management?

Brown: Setting the stage means having awareness that every time you enter the public domain, you are being carefully watched. Your actions, mannerisms, and self-expressions are being viewed as if you were part of a play. Said another way, you are in a Reality TV show that never ends.

Q: Does this apply to everyone or just charismatic leaders?

Brown: Everyone should be aware of his or her image. However, charismatic leaders are more predisposed to scrutiny, because they have advanced interpersonal communication skills that bring them more attention.

Q: So what process might charismatic leaders exercise in managing their image?

Brown: Well, they would never go out into the public without determining what message they wanted to convey. They are always “on.” There is no such thing as a day off for them. Their hairstyle, walk, gestures, and awareness of space are all inclusive of setting the stage. They look around before even moving, so as not to bump or transgress someone else’s space. Expending this kind of energy sounds exhausting, but that is how important charismatic leaders’ image is to them.

Q: Can you give an example of a charismatic leader who embodies image management?

Brown: Filmmaker and actor Fred Williamson will never act in a movie nor have any public display that does not align with the image he has cultivated for the last 40 years. Reportedly, Williamson turned down a role in the movie, “I’m Going to Get You Sucka (1988),” because he refused to parody the “He-man” image that has become his brand. His real life and on screen persona are so intertwined that there is no separation between the two.

Q: Why should managing one’s image be that important?

Brown: One of the greatest needs we have as individuals is to be recognized for our value. We want to be known for our achievements and accomplishments. I have a friend who spent 15 years in the NFL and destroyed his reputation and credibility within 15 minutes for an act that still haunts him. If he had been vigilant about managing his image, he would be one of the most successful athletes in commercial endorsements today. In life, we only have control over ourselves. This includes our image. If we lose control over our image, we have essentially lost control of our lives.

To cultivate your image for success, visit: Charisma

How Charismatic Leaders Lead With Compelling Ideas

Edward Brown, M.S., of Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute provides questions and answers about how charismatic leaders use groundbreaking ideas to lead missions that attract followers.

Q: When you say compelling ideas, what do you mean?

Brown: A compelling idea differs from a mere idea, because it moves you into action. You can let a

 mere idea fall by the wayside, but a compelling idea is transformational.

Q: So, why are compelling ideas so important, particularly to charismatic leaders?

Brown: Charismatic leaders, more than any other leadership model, judge and define themselves by their performance.  To come up with a compelling idea takes a lot of time, thinking and analysis in discovering where voids exist in a system, business operation, or human experience.  Charismatic leaders do not just want to solve a problem; they want to embody the solution.

Q: Where does this desire to embody a solution come from?

Brown:  Often, charismatic leaders have a deep-seated need to be significant on the world’s stage. Actually, significance and recognition is a basic human need, but charismatic leaders have an unusual sensitivity to these desires. Many charismatic leaders suffered ridicule and rejection at an early age, which inspired them to demonstrate to the world how wrong it was to discount them.

Q: Is the compelling idea more about feeding the insecurities within charismatic leaders or solving a human problem?

Brown: It is all related. The charismatic leader felt marginalized early on, which led to a great desire to prove to the world his value.  He sought and found a problem that he wrestled with for some time. Once he was totally convinced of the solution, he became an evangelist for that solution.

Q: So, compelling ideas are a means for charismatic leaders to exorcise their demons?

Brown: We all have our demons. Charismatic leaders have found a way of turning their demons into angels.

Go to these websites for more information on turning compelling ideas into breakthrough discoveries. 

Related: Charisma

How Using the Best Practices of Charismatic Leaders Can Help HR Managers Inspire Employee Productivity in a Competitive Market

Edward Brown, M.S., of Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute provides questions and answers about the impact of charismatic leadership on employee development.

Q: Based on your research on charismatic leadership, what is the single most important trait that charismatic leaders exhibit that can help HR managers inspire employee productivity?

Brown: Based on my research, charismatic leaders have a preternatural ability for understanding human nature. I was in a meeting once where managers were trying to persuade an employee to consider their perspective on a policy change. A senior manager who had been quietly listening all along tapped into the employee’s concerns. He essentially asked, “If you were in the shoes of the people most impacted, how would you feel and what aspects of the policy would you change?” Those two questions changed the dynamics of the meeting. The senior manager channeled into what the employee was feeling, which is the reason she was asked to attend the meeting in the first place. Charismatic leaders are adept at getting to the core of a problem by uncovering the nuance of nonverbal communication.

Q: So, do HR managers need to listen more to the nonverbal cues of employees?

Brown: Active listening is part of it, but it is broader than that. HR managers could benefit from a paradigmatic shift that suggests that self-interested, motivated employees will either make or break corporate productivity. The “Inside Game” in today’s economy is all about tying the self-interests of employees to corporate missions. Psychological contracts between managers and employees have to be formed during the hiring process with benchmarks along the way.

Q: In this context, how is “Psychological Contracts” being defined?

Brown: A psychological contract is a mental agreement that addresses the self-interests and expectations between parties within the scope of the relationship.

Q: Why is this doctrine important for HR managers?

Brown: It is important because during the hiring process, the manager carries all the power. The best way to wield power is acting like it doesn’t exist. By tapping into the self-interests of employees as they enter the company, you make it about the rewards for specific performance. As a superpower on the world’s stage, the U.S. does it all the time. In reality, the U.S. can forcefully persuade most countries to act according to U.S. interests. However, the U.S. has learned that gentle persuasion is a more effective way of influencing foreign policy, particularly when the rest of the world is watching what we do. The same is true at the micro level. The HR manager has hiring power, but can persuade a prospective employee that his or her self-interest is served in conjunction with the mission of the company.

Q: So, by emulating the persuasiveness of charismatic leaders in cultivating employee self-interest, HR managers can inspire employee loyalty and productivity?

Brown: Yes. By understanding that the game of corporate life is about getting people to do what they sometimes do not want to do, employee productivity increases as well as earned rewards for all parties involved. Not through corporate good will, but shared self-interests.

For more information on how to keep motivated employees from becoming demotivated, visit:
http://coreedgehrworkforcesolutions.core-edge.com

HR Managers' Mixer With a Meaning

Did you hear the news that Yahoo and Best Buy companies are calling employees that telecommute back into the office? 

Did you know that a major concern identified among HR managers is the need to engage employees more frequently for greater buy-in and productivity?

Because these issues exist and other new unforeseen ones will appear, would addressing them now help you remain a star performer in your company?

On Thursday, April 25, 2013, from 7PM-8:30PM, Core Edge HR Workforce Solutions (a subsidiary of Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute) is hosting a mixer and presentation at The Georgian Club, 100 Galleria Pkwy., Suite 1700, Atlanta, GA 30339.

Come out and meet other HR professionals as we mix and mingle over light refreshments.

Edward Brown, M.S. of Core Edge HR Workforce Solutions will give a 20 minute presentation based on his latest research titled, “Could Benedict Arnold Be Your Best Employee?  Lessons For Building Employee Loyalty”

Each participant will receive a free copy of this groundbreaking research.

This event is free with reserved seating.

Interested HR managers and professionals must RSVP by April 15, 2013, by emailing: Info@core-edge.com, calling: (404) 767-6592, or visiting: http://coreedgehrworkforcesolutions.core-edge.com

New Website Helps HR Managers Meet the Self-Interests of Corporate Employees

For immediate release:                                                                                    

February 28, 2013

12:00PM (EST)

Atlanta, GA—February 28, 2013---Core Edge HR Workforce Solutions (Core Edge) recently developed a website geared to helping Human Resource (HR) managers effectively deal with employee relations. Core Edge took a contrarian approach to workforce development by stressing the self-interested orientation of employees when achieving corporate missions.  The website focuses on three elements for HR managers:  (1) An exclusive Mastermind Alliance Group for HR Managers that communicates frequently in an online forum, (2) The IBAR Critical Thinking Method that allows employees to become experts and knowledge workers within their company, and (3) Publications dealing with the latest research on employee loyalty, morale, and productivity. 

Core Edge founder, Edward Brown, says, “It was our work on charismatic leadership that led us to investigate the unfulfilled needs within employees that charismatic leaders are adept at addressing. We decided that we were not going to ‘play nice’ with the core needs of employees who are driven now more than ever towards ‘Rugged Individualism.’”  

Core Edge HR Workforce Solutions is a subsidiary of Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute, which investigates, analyzes, and synthesizes how charismatic leaders think, act, and make decisions about productivity and profitability. Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute was founded in Atlanta in 2002.

For more information about Core Edge HR Workforce Solutions, visit: 

http://coreedgehrworkforcesolutions.core-edge.com or Call: (404) 767-6592.

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How Employees Acting In Their Self-Interest Enhances Corporate Productivity

Edward Brown, M.S., of Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute provides questions and answers in his quest to help HR managers enhance employee productivity.

Q:   Since we live in a country where “Rugged Individualism” is part of the American creed, what are you saying that is different about this idea?

Brown:  Perhaps, I am not saying anything different, but I am building on the concept that “Rugged Individualism” is more prevalent now than ever before. Placing the self-interest of employees in the forefront of corporate operations can be new and innovative, if seen from a Machiavellian or “what’s best for the situation” mindset.  Traditionally, “People First” campaigns were overly idealistic about human nature.  Catering to the self-interest of employees is real and pragmatic when “rose colored glasses” are removed about human nature.

Q:  Corporations have consistently tried to facilitate the needs of employees for greater productivity. Where have companies fallen short?

Brown:  In the last 100 years, we have been inundated with theories surrounding leadership and employee development.  Yet, with all this information available, we do not have an excess of leaders or an abundance of self-motivated, innovative employees. Companies fall short because they rely more on business principles (Marketing, Accounting, Finance, etc.) rather than disciplines from the Liberal Arts like Psychology, Sociology, and History. By looking at human experiences through the Liberal Arts, for example using historical data and biographies, companies can begin using theories that encourage employees to extend past self-limiting beliefs. 

Q: So, companies should rid themselves of traditional business models and assume more Liberal Arts theories?

Brown: It is not an issue of ridding one school of thought over the other, but appreciating the connection of disparate or separate ideas to solve specific problems. At the end of the day, people are not machines. They are psycho-emotional beings looking for self-fulfillment by any means.

Q:  So, if you include both business metrics and human experience into the equation, do you think productivity and profitability rise?

Brown: I believe so, based on the research. Anytime you apply quantitative and qualitative analysis to any situation, you have a better resolution to a problem. Numbers may not lie, but they still need to be articulated and aligned with the realities of human nature.  Qualitative analysis asks and answers the “why” to a problem.  If you do not know why a problem exists and how humans in the past have solved it, numbers will not matter.

For more information on the methods for addressing workforce development, visit: http://coreedgehrworkforcesolutions.core-edge.com

The Essentials for Effective Leadership Development

Not all people who conduct leadership development are sensitive to the needs of different kinds of leaders. They don’t realize that there are those leaders who rely or depend on other people or experiences just to keep them going, while there are those, like charismatic leaders, who rely on themselves in bringing out their leadership skills.  If you are part of a group that conducts leadership development, then you must know that using the traditional and formal approach no longer works. Now, even leaders want activities that are not purely based on books and theories, but real life learning. 

Since many clients prefer non-traditional leadership development, you must know how to develop strategies to ensure that they will be satisfied with the outcome. Today, one of the most common and effective approaches that is being used in leadership development is incorporating the concept of self-motivation.  This is because many experts believe that leaders these days need lots of reflection and self-assessment. Self-motivation is very important for leaders because it helps them become better aware of their strengths and weaknesses. If a leader knows what his strengths are, he will be able to continue what he is doing and even build upon it. On the other hand, knowing one's weaknesses is as equally as important, because the person will know what areas he should improve. If one knows his weaknesses, he might be able to turn these weaknesses into opportunities that will make him successful in the future. 

To ensure that the participants will be receptive to the idea of using self-motivation to develop good leadership skills, you must carefully explain to them how it works. Encourage them to understand that it is through being self-motivated that an effective leader sets his mind into accomplishing something extraordinary. Setting one’s mind towards something helps him aim for and achieve an objective.

The next best thing that you can tell participants during leadership development is to start with small and simple tasks. Being a leader might be easy for some, but for others, it may be very difficult. Make your participants understand that if they start small and simple, they will be able to accomplish these goals an easier and faster way. If simple goals are set and achieved early, they will be able to earn the self-confidence that they will need in facing greater and bigger challenges ahead. 

Experts agree that leadership development is a very important factor for people who are aiming for success in their lives. This is also important because it gives the person a sense of freedom in choosing paths that he has to take. Through the values that are taught during these activities, leaders are given the chance to maneuver or control their own lives, which in the future will help them become the best persons they possibly can be.

To develop the skills for effective leadership, visit: http://coreedgehrworkforcesolutions.core-edge.com/ and http://charismaticleadership.coreedgecharisma.com

The Trend Towards Greater Leadership Development Within Companies

In the past, companies maintain their office machines better than their employees. Today, however, the most forward-looking corporations are all into leadership development. This shift in perspective on people had actually been triggered by the long-term shift itself of the world economy. From a total dependence on financial capital, economies all over are now dependent on human capital.

Human resources

In the midst of economic upswings and downswings, companies have realized that money for investment is a precious commodity. Even in the middle of the present economic crunch, money had been deposed as the number one scarce resource in business. Human talent, however, is now the scarcer commodity. As the CEO of a top recruiting company says, “Organizations need talented people a lot more than talented people need organizations.”

Companies of a feather

There is now a growing trend of companies that developed their people with opportunities to learn and grow to become higher-performing organizations. A closer look at these companies reveals a striking resemblance of their practices. Operating all kinds of businesses and based from all over the world, these organizations share similar traits in creating leadership development programs.

Time and money investment

To cut to the chase, running leadership development programs is expensive – both in money and time. CEOs, however, think that this is “the single best investment” they make in their company. Many companies claim they are all interested in developing leaders. Today, most of the companies evaluate their own executives partly on how they develop people.

Promising leaders’ early identification

Spotting promising leaders early on can result in their earlier development. Some companies who have internship programs use the time the interns spend with them to evaluate their potential. Companies who nurture their future leaders early on believe that they have a competitive edge. Their talent reserves become bigger and better than the others.

Strategic assignment choices

In a typical leadership development process, two-thirds of the candidates come from job experience, one-third from mentoring and coaching and a smattering come straight from classrooms.

Mixing job assignments are tough, even if they looked okay at first. Organizations tend to assign people based on what they are good at, and not on what they need to work on. Managers have consistently reported that their hardest experiences were the most helpful in the end.

Developing leaders on the job

There is tension among the CEOs who want to develop their people by moving them about in their need to develop leaders in their expertise in certain areas. Other companies solve it by leaving their leaders in their exact productive places and having them rotated in other jobs through short-term work assignments. These leaders do not leave their present positions, but they can take on short additional assignments.

Feedback and support

In learning, if you do not know how you have performed, chances are you will not learn at all and may not care later. In some companies, feedback is rare. Many successful CEOs declared that frequent and honest assessment with plenty of mentoring and support has propelled them to the top.

All in all, companies now view leadership development as a real investment venture, albeit in human forms, rather than in cold forms of machines made of metal. Investing in creating “knowledge workers” is the wave of the future.

For more information on developing leadership skills for great productivity and profitability, visit: Charisma