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The company I am working for is a large Fortune 500 employer. I work at the corporate HQ.
Company leaders are always looking for new senior managers due to surprising turnover. These jobs are not filled in weeks or even a few months, many are open for a very long time.
Senior Management seems to be frustrated with the quality of the applicants who executive recruiters and targeted ads bring in. They interview a number of candidates who are very qualified on paper but are rejected. The reason: These applicants are not charismatic enough.
They want people in strong leadership roles to have lots of charisma. They want people at the Director level- and up- to be able to inspire people in an out of the company with their magnetic personality.
Do you think that being charismatic is really all that important for people at the Director or VP level vs. simple technical skills?
Last edited by Curious Discussion; 11-03-2015 at 01:33 PM..
Although, let's be truthful - there's no way "Senior Management" discusses what challenges they face hiring, or reasons for declining applicants, in an open meeting.
I think charisma is very important at that level. It speaks to how those that have it can rally a team around certain goals. Technical skills are important too, but most VP's and directors I know are making decisions are not on the front line anyway.
Charisma is important....but certainly not everything. Technical skills are less important...but there is something in the middle and that is organizational and political know-how on getting things done. Knowing how the company works and what is necessary to make things happen. That is beyond charisma and into the more practical aspects of management skills.
The company I am working for is a large Fortune 500 employer. I work at the corporate HQ.
Company leaders are always looking for new senior managers due to surprising turnover. These jobs are not filled in weeks or even a few months, many are open for a very long time.
Senior Management seems to be frustrated with the quality of the applicants who executive recruiters and targeted ads bring in. They interview a number of candidates who are very qualified on paper but are rejected. The reason: These applicants are not charismatic enough.
They want people in strong leadership roles to have lots of charisma. They want people at the Director level- and up- to be able to inspire people in an out of the company with their magnetic personality.
Do you think that being charismatic is really all that important for people at the Director or VP level vs. simple technical skills?
You have already discussed this topic with your old screen name, why bring it up again? Just read the responses from the previous thread!
A couple of years ago I read "Bridgewater Principles", by Ray Dalio, the Bridgewater Associates founder, and he said "Your job as a manager not to be liked by your employees, it's to help your employees do their job in the best possible way". Seems like a simple statement, yet, I keep on coming back to it and analyzing it, so my two cents on the subject are:
1. In many ways, being a manager is like being a parent, that is, you are not supposed to be your kids' friend, again, I am somewhat ambivalent about it maybe because my definition of friendship is a lot deeper-I am there to listen, guide, not be judgmental, watch their back, keep them out of trouble, but I am not at their level because in order for me to be able to do all the things I listed, I do have to carry myself differently.
2. I want to be likable, but I can't fake anything for the life of me, so I know there are certain employees who might not find me charismatic, mostly it's those who don't pull their load, or lack common sense and keep in making same mistakes.
3. It's more important to be a strong leader-you are not doing your job to win popularity contest-as a manager, your job is to ensure that your department is deemed to be valuable, and senior management knows who the key players are on your team. Very often, this requires tough love approach.
4. Having said that, it certainly helps not being an a-hole, or, a manager who is so phlegmatic that his staff does not know what to make out of him/her.
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