Charisma and Leadership Maturity

What recent research reveals about leadership, authenticity, and maturity

Charisma and leadership maturity are often treated as separate qualities—but recent research suggests charisma may be more than a style. It may be an honest signal of inner-core maturity.

In their 2024 article Signaling Charisma, Akstinaite et al. propose that charisma functions as a strategic and cognitively demanding signal—one that communicates underlying qualities like competence, vision, and trustworthiness. Crucially, it is a signal that is costly to produce and difficult to fake.

Rethinking personality as a source of charisma

Conventional thinking often ties charisma to certain personality traits—most commonly, extraversion. Yet Akstinaite et al. show that personality traits have limited predictive value when it comes to charisma as experienced by observers. In particular, extraversion alone does not account for variations in perceived charisma, especially in real-world, unscripted interactions.

Instead, the study finds that charisma is conveyed through a distinct set of verbal and non-verbal behaviors, including metaphor, storytelling, emotional contrast, and inclusive language. These rhetorical techniques are not superficial. They are cognitively demanding and symbolically rich. And they often emerge most clearly in high-pressure, spontaneous contexts—when scripts fall away and the leader is left to speak and think in real time.

This reframes charisma not as a style, but as a signal of deeper leadership capabilities.

What charismatic leadership reveals about inner-core maturity

One of the most compelling aspects of this research is the implicit link it makes between charismatic signaling and what John Mattone, in his Intelligent Leadership framework, describes as the maturity of the inner core. This refers to the integration of self-concept, values, emotional insight, and character—the deeper structure from which sustainable leadership behavior flows.

When a leader expresses themselves in a way that is emotionally resonant and symbolically precise—particularly under cognitive load—it points to more than surface-level skill. It suggests coherence: that the leader has access to a stable internal framework from which meaningful, timely expression can emerge.

Charisma as a diagnostic—not decorative—signal

In this light, charisma becomes not just persuasive, but diagnostic. It tells us something about the leader’s underlying architecture—not only how they wish to be perceived, but how well they are internally aligned.

Spontaneous communication, the study notes, is particularly revealing. It tests whether a leader can still communicate symbolically and emotionally when stakes are high and preparation is minimal. This requires more than verbal dexterity—it requires conceptual clarity and emotional coherence. It requires maturity.

Beyond style: Implications for executive presence

This perspective has consequences for how we interpret and develop leadership presence. It moves the conversation away from charisma as theatre or charm and toward charisma as an emergent property—a signal that becomes visible when inner alignment meets expressive capacity.

In this sense, charisma is not an accessory to leadership, but a byproduct of integration. It arises when thought, emotion, values, and intention move together and become legible in language, tone, and gesture. And because it is hard to fake over time, charisma remains a credible signal of leadership potential—particularly in complex or ambiguous environments where symbolic leadership carries weight.

It is worth noting that the study does not offer techniques to “increase” charisma. Rather, it identifies the conditions under which charisma becomes legible: coherence, clarity, and the capacity to communicate under pressure. The implication is that charisma may be less about external polish and more about internal maturity.

Viewed through this lens, charisma and leadership maturity are closely connected—each reinforcing the other in moments when clarity, pressure, and presence converge.

Conclusion

Charisma, viewed this way, is not a soft skill. It is a demanding and revealing form of leadership communication—one that signals integration, not performance. And that may be exactly why it matters.

Source: Akstinaite, V., Jensen, U. T., Vlachos, M., Erne, A., Antonakis, J. Charisma is a costly signal. The Leadership Quarterly, Volume 35, Issue 6, 2024, 101810.