Ran across an interesting study published by Organization Science titled "In Charisma We Trust: The Effects of CEO Charismatic Visions on Securities Analysts."

The gist?

Charismatic behavior by a chief executive positively influences financial analysts, leading to an increase of a few points in the chief executive’s company’s stock price. Which is NOT a good thing in the “rational” world of investor relations (according to the study), where analysts recommendations to “hold” or “buy” should be based on rational data and financial and operational evidence representing a company’s “real” value.

But, in my world of public relations, we have a different mindset about this kind of effect. If charisma helps our CEO and other leaders build bridges with audiences and stakeholders, then let us look closely and learn. So, I went looking in the study for this “charismatic” behavior, hoping to find the kind of revelation that I can take to the boss and maybe, just maybe, get me a salary increase. What did I find?

The basics, really. According to the study:

“The authors studied 367 CEO transitions that occurred between 1990 and 1999. They examined the executives’ inaugural letters to shareholders, looking for charismatic language that challenged the status quo, empowered investors and company stakeholders, and couched goals in lofty moral or ideological terms rather than dull pragmatism. To evaluate the language in these documents, the authors used a text analysis system that assigns each sentence and phrase to one of a series of themes and then analyzes the words to see which ideas were stressed most often. (This is the same language evaluation technique often used by newspapers and political organizations to characterize the content of presidential speeches.) From their analysis of the inaugural letters, the authors determined that inclusive terms, such as we, us, and our, and phrases that express a belief in the collective way in which goals will be achieved are used most frequently by charismatic leaders.”

Inclusive terms. We. Us. Our. Expressed belief in the team of people behind the company or organization.

The basics.