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Why “Charismatic“ People Are a Walking Red Flag

May 12, 2022
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What do Elon Musk, Steve Jobs and Jack Ma have in common besides money, fame and business? Three things: 1. they have created cult-like environments around their products, 2. they are notorious for being tyrant leaders, and 3. they are considered to be charismatic. This is no coincidence – charisma has a very dark side. So, seeing charisma for what it is and understanding how to best interact with “charismatic“ individuals is essential to protect yourself from any negative (and sometimes dangerous) influence. Here’s everything you need to know.

What is Charisma?

Most people find it difficult to define what exactly charisma is. Some describe it as a gift that only few possess, but that everyone desires. It is often synonymous with power, dominance, influence, admiration, charm and attraction. But while we struggle to describe charisma, most of us recognize it when we see it.

Despite the widespread belief that charisma is innate, researchers recently discovered that charisma can be learned, at least to some degree. Organizations are therefore even more eager to train their top management teams to become hyper charismatic, world-changing leaders. But what many ignore is that charismatic individuals can be very problematic to nations, organizations, but also to individuals around them, including you.

5 Reasons Charisma Can Be Dangerous

1. Charisma = Manipulation

Charisma itself is neither good nor bad. But what is important to realize is that it is nothing else but a top tier influence tactic (aka manipulation). Whether individuals use it consciously or subconsciously, charisma serves as a means to a goal. This goal may be very noble and serve the greater good. But it may also serve people’s selfish and sometimes unethical intentions. Either way, charisma is a strategy to influencing others. And if the wrong person with the wrong intentions succeeds in deceiving and influencing those around them, the consequences can be deleterious.

2. Charisma plays key role in the Dark Triad

Charisma is one of the key characteristics of the Dark Triad personalities Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy. Individuals who have such personality types, oftentimes are perceived by others as charismatic. And this makes sense: These three personality types are notorious for their outstanding ability to manipulate others.

However, what they are also notorious for is their ego-centrism, their deficient morality, and their lack of empathy for others. Therefore, charisma can mask someone’s true colours. What seems to be an inspiring, enthusiastic individual, may actually be a manipulative con-artist who has little concern for others.

3. Charisma clouds your judgment

“Charismatic“ individuals are very sophisticated in communicating inspiring visions that create strong commitment in others. Research found that this can cloud people’s judgment. For example, a study found that CEO charistmatic visions can have negative consequences on analysts’ accuracy of data analysis. This led to misjudgments that had far-reaching implications for investor decisions and stock prices.

The moral of the story: Don’t get distracted by the rhetorical tactics of “charismatic“ individuals – it is merely a vision, not reality.

4. Charisma facilitates unethical behaviour

People are downright mesmerized by “charismatic“ people. They admire their visions, they are inspired to work hard to realize those visions, and they trust them fully. Additionally, “charismatic“ individuals tend to encourage and engage in risky decisions and behaviour. Because people often blindly trust “charismatic“ individuals and are strongly motivated to realize the vision of those individuals, they go above and beyond to make this happen, especially in high pressure situations. And this often includes a breach of ethics or law.

Therefore, be suspicious of fast-paced, high-pressure work environments that follow the lead of a “charismatic“ individual and seem cult-like to you. If you have watched Wolf of Wall Street, you know what I am talking about. It may seem amazing at first, but you may quickly lose yourself, working 24/7, and engaging in behaviour that you would normally condemn.

5. Charisma is addictive

Charisma is addictive, both for “charismatic“ individuals and those around them. People become addicted to being inspired by innovative and highly optimistic visions and communication, even if they are unrealistic. Similarly, “charismatic“ individuals become addicted to the admiration they receive from the people around them, which further fuels their communication of inspiring visions, This creates an addictive, vicious cycle, where everyone involved lives in an illusion that they treat as being reality.  

So, what can you do?

1. Question their intentions

Question the “charismatic“ person’s intentions. Is it really realistic what they talk about? If not, question whether you should be impressed or influenced by them in any way. If you mentally „delete“ all the filler words and rhetoric tactics, what is the message that is left? Keep in mind: If something is too good to be true, it is too good to be true.

2. Find out about their values and morals

What do they condone, what do they condemn? Focus on actions, rather than words. How do they react when someone crosses the line? Do they encourage going above and beyond to reach goals? And what does “going above and beyond“ mean to them? Being aware of their morals and values will help you avoid blindly trusting and following people you should rather stay away from.

3. Don’t ignore red flags

If you see or hear something that makes you doubt a “charismatic“ individual’s integrity, do not ignore it. Even though we often tend to ignore or justify the behaviour of people that we admire, when your alarm bells start ringing, there is probably a good reason for that.

4. Avoid, avoid, avoid

The best thing you can do with “charismatic“ individuals who have selfish intentions and questionable morals, is avoiding them. Being around highly manipulative people is not a sustainable situation to be in. So, if you can avoid such individuals, do it – for your own well-being, integrity, and peace of mind.

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This post is based on the following sources and academic articles:

Photo by Paolo Bendandi on Unsplash