Leadership and Change

Animate the vision. First the accolades, I really liked the suggestions that K&P give in this section. To animate your vision you should use symbolic language (metaphors), images of the future, positive communication, express your emotions, and speak from the heart. Much of this seems like common sense when they write it but I think these are things that are easily forgotten. Going back to MLK’s speech, when I say it’s surprisingly simple, I’m thinking in terms of what K&P wrote. It doesn’t look to be a speech that was agonizingly difficult to write. A good speech writer taking advantage of the same suggestions that K&P offer to us all. It’s inspiring to think, “Oh, I could write something like that.” Maybe not about civil rights, but surely about something I’m passionate about. Well this brings me to my next point.

My biggest criticism is the simplicity with which they display MLK’s speech, because I don’t believe just anyone could have delivered that speech, and yes, I think it takes charisma. Oh wait you say, K&P tell us that “people who are perceived to be charismatic are simply more animated than others. What we call charisma, then, can better be understood as energy and expressiveness.”(149) But I feel they contradict their whole point of saying ‘charisma’ as we think of it is simply bringing more energy and expressiveness, when they end this same section on expressing your emotions. There they tell us:

“Entertainment is playing a bigger and bigger role in our lives. Leadership is a performing art, and this has become even truer as new technologies hit the market. It’s no longer enough to write a good script—you’ve also got to put on a good show. And you’ve got to make it a show that people will remember.” (150)

To me that sounds like a big charge, and not something that is as easy as they make it out to be. If it were, everyone would be walking around inspiring each other all day which is a pleasing concept but not very realistic. To their credit Kouzes & Posner do include a lengthy list of ways to improve at the end of the chapter: take a course in presentation skills, join Toastmasters, volunteer to stand up and speak, listen and study other famous speeches, take an acting class, of course use more energy and enthusiasm, and finally practice, practice, practice.(155-156) I just think that this is a step where many people will spend a long time stumbling, myself included, and is a skill that is not ‘taught’ enough. I can’t count how many Powerpoints I’ve suffered through in my MBA courses, both delivering and watching.

What do other people think? Is ‘charisma’ something we can learn? Isn’t there some small part that must be natural ability? I don’t feel it’s enough for a leader to just feel comfortable getting up in front of a group of people. I can do that. My heart may initially feel like it’s going to explode out of my chest but I can do it. The challenge is that spark or glow that some people just seem to have. I always assumed that this would be something you grow into, but the older I get the more I wonder.