DECKED out in her best black pants and rhinestone tank top, dark unruly mane tossed over her shoulders, Janet Gredler sits at one of a dozen intimate tables in a darkened bar and surveys a smorgasbord of eligible males -- handsome rogues, cherubic charmers and brainy entrepreneurs.
She and about two dozen men and women are here because they have the confidence and chutzpah to participate in a grueling white-knuckle phenomenon known as "speed dating." If ever there was a Darwin-esque event designed to favor the socially astute, this is it.
The daters are presentable, attractive and engaging. But for all the attention and effort they will put into showcasing their strengths, the one characteristic that will set them apart in these abbreviated meetings is something they've probably never considered. It's charisma.
In interpersonal relationships, politics and business, this mysterious quality often trumps appearance, personality and, sadly, even character.
At no time in history has charisma wielded such a mighty social sword, media experts say. Where once we formed impressions based on lengthy face-to-face contact, books and letters, we now also rely on information fed rapid-fire and piecemeal through iPods, e-mail and sound bites.
"If you're a business leader or an office manager, you've really got to have some measure of charisma to succeed these days," says Jackson Bain, founder and chairman of the Alexandria, Va.-based communications counseling firm Bain and Associates. Bain has been teaching media skills to executives and politicians for more than 20 years. "You have to be able to make a strong first impression very quickly," he says.
Recognizing the need for that elusive "something," business schools are teaching a charismatic leadership style incorporating vision, passion and personal connection to employees; self-improvement gurus and authors are making buckets of cash by promising to transform the shy or lovelorn into dynamic entrepreneurs and fearless Casanovas; and political consultants are routinely tutoring their clients on how to harness it.
Perhaps nowhere is the force of charisma more apparent than in the political arena, where having a boatful of charisma is like holding four aces. In California's gubernatorial campaign, Democrats Steve Westly and Phil Angelides, neither of whom are generally referred to as sizzling, have struggled to identify themselves to an electorate at times bedazzled by the hugely charismatic incumbent, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
