logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2023
12m 22s

What Is “Charisma,” Anyway?

Harvard Business Review
About this episode

In our leader-focused society, how often do we consider the role of followers?

Barbara Kellerman studies the relationship between leaders and followers at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership, where she was a member of the faculty for more than 20 years.

She explains that there’s a word that describes the powerful, emotional bond that exists between leaders and followers: charisma.

“We all tend to fixate on the leader,” Kellerman says. “But the genuine leadership is best understood as a relationship between the leader and his or her followers. And certainly charismatic leadership implies the power of the follower every bit as much as it does the power of the leader.”

In this episode, you’ll learn why the term “charisma” implies that leaders and their followers share power equally – and how that balance of power can lead to different outcomes.

Key episode topics include: leadership, gender, government, equity, power dynamics.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: What Charisma Really Is (and Isn’t) (2009)

· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast

· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Up next
Jul 9
How to Succeed in Your Career When Change Is a Constant
Disruption and transformation are the new normal in nearly every industry. So how do you stay ahead of the curve? Over the past four decades, Bonnie Hammer successfully adapted to massive changes in the media industry, rising from production assistant to leadership roles in broad ... Show More
29m 28s
Jul 2
The Right Way to Step Down as CEO
When news breaks of a CEO succession, much of the attention is given to the new leader and how they will change the company. But new research shows that the leave-taking process of the outgoing chief executive is often mishandled, with negative impacts on succession and the organ ... Show More
28m 43s
Jun 25
Why Profits Follow Purpose
This month, we're highlighting some of the best conversations from the 2025 HBR Leadership Summit held in April. In today’s episode, Anish Shah, CEO of Mahindra Group, one of India's largest and most prominent conglomerates, discusses the importance of purpose in driving profit. ... Show More
30m 9s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2023
#160 TKP Insights: Leadership
In the third installment in a series of episodes, The Knowledge Project curates essential segments from five guests revolving around one theme: leadership. This episode helps put a unique definition on leadership and examines whether or not good leaders are context-dependent, the ... Show More
1h 1m
Oct 2023
648: What Vulnerable Leadership Sounds Like, with Jacob Morgan
Jacob Morgan: Leading With Vulnerability Jacob Morgan is a trained futurist and one of the world’s leading authorities on leadership, the future of work, and employee experience. He speaks in front of tens of thousands of people each year and his content is seen over a million ti ... Show More
39m 3s
Feb 2021
Getting the Leadership Respect I Deserve
She’s demonstrated her leadership ability throughout her career, advancing to some of the most senior leadership roles. But her C-suite peers haven’t always valued what she brings to the table. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches this leader through how to demonstrate her value as an exe ... Show More
27m 39s
May 2022
How Can Leaders Show Empathy? [076]
Empathy is critical in leadership. If you’re on-top of articles or books in the leadership space, you will no doubt know this. Empathy is discussed all of the time. But how can you build it? How can you show more empathy as a leader? In this episode, I break down this somewhat “m ... Show More
11m 53s
Mar 2023
471: Becoming a Potent Leader with Ruby Fremon
Today, I'm inviting you to eavesdrop on an extraordinary conversation that I just had with Ruby Fremon, my friend and author of the new book, Potent Leadership: Drop the Mast, Ignite the Real You, and Reclaim the Leader Within.  While there are many online "influencers" who claim ... Show More
46m 18s
Jul 2022
#142 Marshall Goldsmith: The Essentials Of Leadership
My guest today is Marshall Goldsmith, one of the world’s leading executive coaches. We discuss the surprising lessons he’s learned coaching some of the best CEOs in the world, where confidence comes from, common mistakes leaders make, why changing behavior is easier than changing ... Show More
1h 38m
Jul 2023
What the Best Leaders Know — and What Skills They Develop
If you had the chance to talk to hundreds of business leaders at the top of their game, what habits and patterns would you learn? Adam Bryant has done just that. He's the senior managing director of the ExCo Group and founded the “Corner Office” interview series at The New York T ... Show More
27m 33s
Jul 2023
What Nobody Tells You About Leadership: 6 Secrets You Need to Know About! [088]
When you land in a leadership position, there will be a number of things that surprise you. Things that you may not be aware of. Things you may not have prepared yourself for. The power shift can take people by surprise. Other times jealousy can unsettle emerging leaders. And the ... Show More
18m 24s
Apr 2024
How Bad Leaders Get Worse over Time
There's plenty of advice on how to grow into a better leader. And it takes effort to become more effective. But bad leadership gets worse almost effortlessly, says Barbara Kellerman, a Center for Public Leadership Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. She shares real examples from th ... Show More
20m 26s
Jul 2023
The Power of a Positive Mind: Live with Valorie Burton
On this episode, Mark Cole is joined by Maxwell Leadership Thought Leader, author, and life coach Valorie Burton to discuss the power of a positive mind. This episode was recorded live during the first stop of the Maxwell Leadership City Tour in Atlanta, GA and features an audien ... Show More
41m 17s