Bill Binder

Now before you say, I'm not a charismatic leader, keep an open mind. Too many times, when we think of charismatic leaders we think of Kennedy, Reagan and Clinton--people with natural charisma. Frequently, they squandered the gift they were given to make dramatic change, because they are used to people always loving them no matter what they did. You might not get your people to storm the gates of Hades, but you can get them to walk up and bang on the door. How? There are six practical steps to accomplishing this.

#1 Develop an energizing vision of how good things can be. You decide how you want your organization to function, how things will improve and your ultimate goals for the group--improved profitability, defeating competitive threats, teamwork, new products, etc. The greater the difficulty and the more desperate the situation, the more people are seeking a leader who can visualize a better future and provide a plan to get there. Your people will accept dramatic change and hard times as long as they smell the promise of a better future.

#2 Live your vision. That means not only articulating your vision but every decision that you make must support that vision. If one component of your vision is high quality, then don't make the mistake of deciding a product is good enough to ship just because the customer needs it immediately. If you do, you've lost your people.

#3 Be honest and timely with communication. People want to know where they stand and what is expected of them. One mistake new supervisors make is to delay telling a subordinate that their observed behavior is troubling. We justify it by saying we don't want to appear to be "nit picking" or that the employee should know better-- when in effect, we are condoning their actions by not confronting them.

#4 Openly share information. People seek leadership positions because they want to be powerful. Being in the know, having information that others don't, making decisions in secret gives you a feeling of power. Ninety-nine percent of the information that a leader has, however, can be shared. Sharing information as early as possible builds trust and loyalty.

#5 Make adjustments as necessary. Too often, we feel we lose the respect of our team when we make a course correction because we'll look either weak or fallible. Reflect on your past. How many times have you observed management continuing on a course that was bound to fail simply because they had committed to that course? This stubborn commitment not only "demotivated" you, but caused you to question their ability and intelligence. Making adjustments shows that you are on top of the situation.

#6 Release decision-making to your people as they become committed to your vision. Once you have educated your team through articulating and living your vision, trust them to carry it forward too through their input and more responsibility. There is a fine line between as a micromanager and a charismatic leader.

While these seem obvious, too often, we ignore them at our own peril. You can become a legend in your own time when you maximize your charismatic leadership ability.

(Bill Binder has more than 30 years of experience in operations, engineering and upper management working in firms ranging from Fortune 500 to privately held companies. He is the president of BAT Leadership Training LLC, a consulting firm specializing in leadership training, career management, and AJIT - or "Almost Just in Time" inventory management for small companies and performance improvement programs. In addition, he is the director of quality for Seiler Instruments Company, a maker of precision fire control systems for the military.)

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