Charisma

Charisma (/kəˈrɪzmə/) is compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.The English term charisma is from the Greek χάρισμα (khárisma), which means 'favor freely given' or 'gift of grace'. The term and its plural χαρίσματα (charismata) derive from χάρις (charis), which means 'grace'. Some derivatives from that root (including 'grace') have similar meanings to the modern sense of personality charisma, such as 'filled with attractiveness or charm', 'kindness', 'to bestow a favor or service', or 'to be favored or blessed'. Moreover, the ancient Greek dialect widely used in Roman times employed these terms without the connotations found in modern religious usage. Ancient Greeks applied personality charisma to their gods; for example, attributing charm, beauty, nature, human creativity or fertility to goddesses they called Charites (Χάριτες).Contemporary charisma maintains, however, the irreducible character ascribed to it by Weber: it retains a mysterious, elusive quality. Media commentators regularly describe charisma as the 'X-factor'. …The enigmatic character of charisma also suggests a connection – at least to some degree – to the earliest manifestations of charisma as a spiritual gift.The Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible record the development of divinely conferred charisma. In the Hebrew text the idea of charismatic leadership is generally signaled by the use of the noun hen (favor) or the verb hanan (to show favor). The Greek term for charisma (grace or favor), and its root charis (grace) replaced the Hebrew terms in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (the 3rd century BC Septuagint). Throughout, 'the paradigmatic image of the charismatic hero is the figure who has received God's favor'. In other words, divinely conferred charisma applied to highly revered figures.Charisma is a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These as such are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader.through simple yet profoundly consequential phrases such as “are considered” and “is treated,” charisma becomes a relational, attributable, and at last a properly sociological concept.... For Weber, the locus of power is in the led, who actively (if perhaps unconsciously) invest their leaders with social authority.