In this Heroic Plus One episode, Brian Johnson explores the concept of charisma, challenging the myth that it is an innate trait limited to a few. Drawing on Olivia Fox Cabane’s book The Charisma Myth, he outlines three core qualities—presence, power, and warmth—that anyone can develop to become more charismatic. He illustrates each quality with personal anecdotes, such as a conversation with his friend Emerson and a dinner interaction with General Fenton, emphasizing the importance of being fully present, demonstrating self‑mastery, and showing benevolent intent. Brian also introduces the idea of “moral charisma,” a deeper level of influence rooted in wisdom, discipline, love, and service to a greater purpose. The episode concludes with a call to action, inviting listeners to subscribe, explore the Heroic platform, and apply the three‑step charisma framework to their own lives.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Heroic Plus One. In our last Plus One, I told you about some of the things I admire about Emerson, and I challenged you to think about and share some of the things you admire about your loved ones. Did you do it? Pro tip, if we're going to move from theory to practice to mastery together today, we've got to do the work. So I shared the fact that a chess dad was kind enough to say that he thought Emerson had an aura about him. And it was actually funny how he framed it. You know what he said? I don't want to be weird about it, but— Now, the morning after I shared that with Emerson, we chatted about charisma. I asked him if he knew what it was. He took a moment and struggled to find the words and then said that it was like an energy someone has. And I said, that's exactly right. It's a difficult thing to describe, but you know it when you feel it. Then I told him that there's actually a book all about how to create more charisma. It's called The Charisma Myth. Check out the notes. Now, know this. The myth is the idea that some people have charisma and others don't. The fact is, we can all cultivate charisma. Then I told him that the author says that there are 3 qualities we need to cultivate if we want to cultivate our charisma. And that's what we're going to discuss today. So I asked Emerson what he thought the first quality of a charismatic person is. I'll ask you as well. What do you think? According to Olivia Fox Cabane, the number one thing that the most charismatic people on the planet slash in our lives have is presence. I asked him if someone who's looking at their phone rather than you would be charismatic. He immediately said no. Then I told him to think back to the prior week when our friend General Fenton visited us for a trail walk and dinner. Just visited us literally last week. Now, during dinner, General Fenton went through Eleanor's 3-inch-high stack of drawings and asked her about her art with an astonishing level of presence. That, I told Emerson, is the number one key to charisma. You must be fully present with someone, making them feel like they are the most important person in the world to you in that moment. Great leaders like the general have always had that incredible ability, whether it's with a fellow leader in a top-secret meeting or a 9-year-old girl at a dinner table. Now, that's the first quality of charismatic people: presence. How is yours? How's your presence? Put away the phone. Be there. The second thing charismatic people have is power. You can be present and weak. And, well, sorry, but you won't be charismatic. You need to demonstrate a level of self-mastery. See, flip the switch to elicit the charismatic connections you're looking for. Then I asked him what the third variable might be. He didn't know. It is warmth. If you're present and powerful and you're a jerk, you won't be charismatic. People have to know that you will use your presence and power benevolently. They must feel your kindness and your love. Presence, power, warmth. That's our big 3. How's yours? By the way, after we had that chat, I said that there's an even deeper level of charisma, moral charisma. That's what the greatest leaders of all time have had. And that's what we all have latent within us. We tap into that power when we do the big 3 and ground it all in wisdom, discipline, love, courage, and a fierce commitment to being our best in service to something bigger than ourselves. Know this, helping you tap into that power is why I do what I do. Let's activate it today. Hey, this is Brian. Thanks for spending a few minutes with me today. If you enjoyed it, please hit subscribe so that the best of the show keeps landing in your feed. Then head over to heroic.us. That's heroic.us where you'll find the full library of wisdom I've created over the last 20 years. As well as the app, advanced training programs, coaching, and everything else we've built to help you optimize your life, actualize your potential, and live heroically. It is day 1. We are all in. Let's go.
