Empowerment Tip
Develop a
Charisma
An effective way to
impress people is to
have personal charm,
warmth, and magnetism.
Although some aspe
charisma are tied in
with basic personality
traits, you can steps to
be more charismatic.
Learn to be a colorful
communicator and how to
express your feelings in
a positive way. You can
also add to your
charisma by developing a
unique quality such as a
enetrating sense of
humor or the capacity to
remember names.
Lode Probst, a retailing
executive, rose rapidly
in her career partly
because of her
merchandising savvy.
However, her
distinguishing ability
to individualize her
approach to dealing with
store personnel enhanced
her acceptance as a
leader. When Lorie had
business to conduct with
a department head or a
store associate, she did
not jump into her agenda
immediately. Instead,
she began by asking
about a project or
concern of the person
with whom she spoke. She
kept these important
facts both in her head
and in a notebook. A
typical conversation
opener was this, "Terry,
I recall that our
department had reduced
the return rate on goods
sold. How is that figure
holding up?"
The simple expedient of
showing knowledge about
and interest in all her
team members enhanced
Lorie's leadership
image. Her
individualized approach
to people contributed as
much to her charisma as
the warmth she
projected. The series of
promotions Lorie
received were a tribute
to her charismatic
handling of people. The
promotions were also the
breakthrough she wanted
in her career.
