Amazingly, simply being good at what you do is not
enough to excel in today’s competitive environment. Forbes published
a study by the Carnegie Institute that revealed only 15% of our success
in business is determined by our technical skills. A whopping 85% of
our success is determined by our communication skills, ability to lead
others and our personality.
What many professionals lack is what I call Professional
Charisma. Professional Charisma has two components.
Professional refers to
presenting yourself in a way that conveys you can be taken seriously.
It is a demonstration of competence, work ethic and a decorum that is
business appropriate.
Charisma is the element
that makes you personable in a way that moves others to want to work
with you and for you.
Charismatic employees are perceived as more productive
and are presented with more opportunities. A Harvard study revealed
charismatic managers perform better because they get much stronger buy-in
from their team members.
Can charisma be developed? Absolutely, charisma is
a learned interpersonal skill. It’s about all building strong rapport.
When you develop genuine rapport with someone, they like you and trust
you. It becomes easy to influence them.
Here are five things you can do to build rapport
and enhance your Professional Charisma
-
Be approacha
ble
Body language plays a huge role in your approachability
factor.
I
t
’
s
easy to be so engrossed in our deliverables and
deadlines that we become inaccessible to those around us. Check your
resting face. What do you look like when you are lost in your own thoughts?
Does your face naturally hang in a scowl?
Use your mirror to practice a face that looks open
and friendly.
Acknowledge team members with eye contact, a smile
and unfold your arms. If you look unapproachable
people will avoid you.
-
Take time to make small talk.
Many of my clients feel
uncomfortable with casual chit chat. However, it
’
s
important for people to see you
in more than one dimension. It doesn
’
t
benefit you to come
across as
a perfect dr
one
; you
need to
be
see
n
as
human. Learning to engage
in a little small talk helps people to connect with
you.
Being sincerely interested in other people also goes
a long way.
Connection
is
a
key
element
when it comes to
lead
ing and influencing
others.
-
Shine the spotlight on others.
Nothing is more powerful than being
generous with sincere compliments. Acknowledging
positive
things about others
not only make
s
them
feel good
, you are seen as
confident
. When
you make people feel good about
themselves
, they tend to feel good about you.
-
Become a good listener.
People love to talk about
themselves, give them the opportunity to do so
. Be the one who wants to hear
their opinions, accomplishments and solutions. Universal
ly, we all
have a
need
to be heard and p
eople love good listeners.
-
Be authentic.
Be yourself
,
because people like real people. Just remember,
we should all be striving to be the best version of ourselves and being
yourself should not preclude others from being who they are.
Kim Welcome
is CEO of Influential Voice, a Communication Trainer and Coach; she
assists businesses and professionals to achieve their goals by helping
them to develop deliberate, skillful, polished communication skills. She
invites your questions and comments: info@influentialvoice.com For more info: www.influentialvoice.com
