Charisma is a trait that a lot of leaders seem to share. Many wonder how much of a role charisma plays in the success of leaders. The author of this article thinks charisma is one of the key characteristics that help to make a leader’s job easier.

Of course, there are some who have charisma without the brains, vision, or character to go along with it. In these cases, the trait is useless and can even be dangerous, when others try to emulate the empty personality. “Bad” or unethical charismatic leaders are out there too. Some of these people have the power to wreck lives and even nations.

Good charismatics, however, lead with magnetism plus integrity and intelligence. Their job is made a lot easier because people want to follow them. It is easier for a charismatic leader to energize people to achieve a goal. These leaders are the ones who are able to passionately explain a vision and excite their people to strive for the steps it will take to achieve the vision. Non-charismatic leaders can do this too, but it takes a lot more time and reasoning for them to win over hearts and minds.

Alan Greenspan is an example of a leader who has succeeded without charisma and has instead gained loyal followers on the depth of his logic. More commonly, good people who want to be leaders find themselves stalled at a certain point because they lack the innate ability to engage other’s hearts and minds. Charisma can’t be learned or trained, and can’t be faked for long. It seems to be something that people have or don’t have. So, without it, leaders won’t automatically fail, they will just have to take a slower track to the top.