Slashdot Mirror
Hacking Charisma
An anonymous reader writes: "Steve Jobs had it. George Clooney has it. So does Don Draper. Charisma is intangible but powerful: the personality trait that's used to win friends and influence people. Olivia Fox Cabane wasn't born with it. She was a high-school outcast, a socially awkward teenager baffled by the nuance of social interactions. But she was also an analytical thinker. She believes she has reverse engineered the secret of charm, and is so successful that executives now pay her to do the same for them. Cabane's self-help spiel comes with a dose of science. In this article, Teresa Chin examines the science of charisma, and asks why exactly Silicon Valley needs a charisma coach in the first place."
Many of the top critical comments are similar to criticism I've heard about the classic "How To Win Friends And Influence People".
A light saber is the same tool in Darth Vader's hands or Luke Skywalker's hands.
It is all about intent and the state of mind you use it in.
Yes, a lying piece of shit narcissitic sociopath could use technique X to get what he wants, regarless of the consequences to everyone else.
Someone with a good heart can use technqiue X to remind himself to review a situation, find something positive, using to get something positive, something win-win done and make people feel better, out of a sincere desire for them, in the process.