Charisma: More of a Negative

Given the incidence of narcissism in very important leadership roles in the US and around the globe, I believe organizations should get more deliberate about screening for narcissism,” she tells Quartz. One way to do that: Contact several people who have worked with the candidate in the past, but were not named as references by the applicant. “Finding out what the candidate’s true track record is in terms of developing people and giving them credit for accomplishments is essential. Narcissists will over-claim credit and are significantly less likely to help other people develop as leaders,” says Chatman.

I think charisma is a more a negative than anything in leaders (political, business, religious). Yes it can be powerful. But more often it may be a sign of personality problems--present or future. Greatness, let alone workaday competence, comes in many packages. It is a human weakness (understandable, but a weakness nevertheless) that we are so drawn to judging on quickly identified characteristics such as charisma, appearance or life-story.

(The article only mentions Trump in passing. I can't imagine why they chose his picture for the lede. 😅)