How To Be Magnetic

Instantly apparent but almost impossible to quantify, is charisma an innate quality or can you learn how to be magnetic?

- Charlie Hale

Ask people to name someone they think is charismatic and the answers will almost always include the likes of Obama, Brené Brown, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, and Princess Diana. But ask the same people to tell you what makes these smooth operators so charming, and you’ll likely be met with blank faces. Singling out the charismatic among us seems somewhat intuitive, but quantifying what makes these people so magnetic is a whole other exercise.

Unlike power, wealth or status, charisma is something altogether more amorphous: a vibe-like quality that draws admiration and trust from others. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is “compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others”.

Psychologists and research scientists have been studying this elusive “it” factor for decades. What is it that makes people so alluring and can it be taught? The answer, in short, is yes, charisma is a learned behavior similar to learning how to drive or speak a new language.

Charisma comes from the Greek word “gift,” befitting the idea of an intangible, magical aura, but the idea that “you either got it, or you don’t” has long been debunked. When researchers at the University of Lausanne trained middle managers and MBA students for 30 to 90 hours in 12 “charismatic leadership tactics”, such as using metaphors and gestures, they found that charisma significantly improved.

The 21st century must-have

The idea that we can become more charismatic is hardly new; Dale Carnegie’s 1936 self-help book,