5 Takeaways from The Charisma Myth by Olivia Fox Cabane
I picked up this book after hearing something about it on a podcast (I can’t, for the life of me, remember which one) and the name hooked me.
As an introvert who’s held leadership positions, I’ve always yearned to have more charisma, but never formally studied it.
Sure, I’ve listened to podcasts (you sensing a theme here in my life?), read articles, and heard anecdotal advice, but I can’t say I used any sort of disciplined approach to trying to improve my charisma (also, I realized, it’d be hard to measure it objectively). So, when the book became available at my library, I was pumped.
After reading it, I can’t say it blew me out of the world, but I did pull what value I could from it. Below are key points in The Charisma Myth.
(And you can always scroll down for my actual opinion of the book.)
1. Charisma consists of three components: Power, Presence, and Warmth
With every leader Cabane describes (for the most part, the tired examples of Bill Clinton and Steve Jobs), she outlines which component they emphasized. As you might guess, Jobs wasn’t huge on warmth, but displayed plenty of power and presence. Clinton, on the other hand, is known for his warmth and presence, foremost…
