I don't think it takes much for a cult to be a cult. Many parts of our society are cultish, and you only need a charismatic leader and some teachings, and before you know it, you have a cult.
I'll never be Jennifer Lawrence or Tom Cruise, someone who can hold a movie and then be charming and charismatic doing promotion. I haven't got what they've got. But at least I'm now comfortable just being myself.
Everyone knows of great projects that were too dependent on a charismatic individual, or simply too expensive to be replicated.
People think of teachers who are born to teach, and you think of all these charismatic folks. Some of the most successful teachers are some of the least charismatic, interestingly. But they have a gift of figuring out what motivates people.
Most people think of leaders as being these outgoing, very visible, and charismatic people, which I find to be a very narrow perception. The key challenge for managers today is to get beyond the surface of your colleagues. You might just find that you have introverts embedded within your organization who are natural-born leaders.
Just telling the facts are no longer enough. You now have to be persuasive, charismatic, interesting, and funny. Just telling people things isn't enough anymore.
One of the difficulties you run into is that acting and celebrity are so closely intertwined. People make careers out of being charismatic personalities. It's one of those things that people have come to expect from actors. Personalities that don't change from role to role. I don't want it that way.
Poker is a charismatic game. People who are larger than life play poker and make their living from playing games and hustling.
