I was wondering who you guys think are very charismatic on wall street and or finance in general.
I am working to enhance my skills in this department by reading books about business guys and watching youtube interviews and stuff.
Curious who would be your picks
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Just look at the leadership of any bank (e.g Jamie Dimon)
Most senior bankers may fit this square because they need to deal with and attract clients to their banks. Just look up on them and pick some of their behavior.
Also, Read How To Win Friends and Influence People, read it 20, 30, 40 times, it's always good to keep the ideas fresh in your mind so it becomes second nature.
Agree on picking Jamie Dimon as a top priority when studying charismatic people in finance. He doesn't look pretentious or arrogant, he behaves quite humbly (a rare trait in finance).
Wouldn't recommend watching YouTube videos because more often than not what you'll see there will not be relevant in your day to day. When top executives, salesman, or whoever you may look at, are filmed, it's usually in events where they are showing the best version of themselves (prepared a lot for it), the event may be focused on them so they have it extremely easy (interviews), or if it's uploaded it means that it ended up being a top-notch event. You have no clue how they behave and react in 30 different scenarios during their day-to-day.
kid from my college interviewed him. said he was nice and down-to-earth guy
edited this comment for below responder. he did when he was in hs, just type in jamie hs name and interview and you will find it.
A college kid interviewed with Jamie Dimon? What the hell was the job?!
I worked with someone who was at Easter Brunch with him. Said he didn’t have a phone out unlike other members of her family.
Let’s not forget his presidential cuff links at a senate banking hearing.
Agree, and if you follow JPM closely he is constantly saying things he shouldn't that the JPM comms team has to walk back (i.e. saying an economic hurricane is coming... JPM comms immediately saying that's not their corporate stance). He also fights with analysts on earnings calls and investor days, that Mayo comment is one of many.
He's good at his job but I think there are a lot of other people to look at if you want charisma training lol
Dimon? Heard he had a reputation for being temperamental and hot-headed in the old days, that's why Sandy Weill didnt give him the top job
why should OP be concerned with the Dimon from the 90s smh
An aside, but similar...my college roommate was an accountant. Big 8 back in the day. Very friendly charismatic guy. Very natural and comfortable with people. Fast forward and he's the CFO of a F200 firm making way more than most MDs (all in comp over 5M/yr). He's always been a leader. He was tapped early on with the accounting firm as a leader. Was supervising juniors after a yr.
The reason I mention this is that is what all these firms (IB, MBB, etc.) are looking for. The technical stuff is easy and anyone can learn it. They know most will leave within a few yrs. They don't care about that at all, actually want it if you don't have leadership in there somewhere. They can turn a leader in to anything. A technician will always be a technician.
Work on your soft skills.
Sitting in front of your computer watching youtube videos is probably not the best way to improve your charisma, to be honest. Go to the bar and talk to people. Talk to people at the gym. Talk to anyone. There's no massive difference between everyone out in public and any big shot on wall street; they're all human.
People (especially introverts in more technical roles) underrate charisma and likability a lot. My freshman year roommate was this big chubby bengledeshi kid, but the most charismatic guy I ever met. He was pulling a new 9 every week, something my spaghetti ass could never dream of. Charisma and likability can take you a lot further than people think.
Agreed, my approach is: Reading books like How to win friends, How to talk to anyone, and watching and noting certain ques in charismatic people. Then put it in practice daily by presenting myself in a more approachable manner, start more conversations with strangers, smiling, focus more on listening than talking etc.
Friends describe me as charismatic in certain contexts: people I am familiar with and mostly in one on one situations. However they also describe me as rough around the edges, direct and confrontational which is not always ideal in professional settings. Also that I should work on my approachability.
I can understand where you’re coming from with part of this.
Some input for what it’s worth:
-confrontational: don’t instigate anything and focus on not being reactive either (usually everyone else will see the instigator as being in the wrong if it’s over nothing)
-comfortable with other people besides close friends etc.: keep in mind they are just other people with their own lives and don’t overthink it, like you are doing just listen / learn so it’s not weird and formulaic interactions
100% this! Huge focus on technical ability for younger roles, which makes sense, but people don't get into finance to make an analyst's salary for the rest of their lives. At some point, success in finance or any other industry is far less reliant on your ability to produce a DCF model 5 seconds faster than anyone else, and much more about your ability to connect with clients, charm your coworkers or counterparties, etc. That is why it's sad to see people who brag about how all they do is focus on work, they're at the office 100+ hours a week, their "extracurriculars" are going to finance oriented events/lectures, etc. If you don't figure out how to be a well rounded person, that will translate to your professional life as well
There are multiple types of charismatic people. I would name few (but of course all them have excellent track record to back them when they act):
Howard Marks - very eloquent, fluent, when he talks everybody listen, but also humble and down to earth
Carl Icahn - very charismatic, but probably not a good role model (cause you have to be Carl Icahn to pull of Carl Icahn )
Charlie Munger- especially when younger, perfect combination of wisdom/smart and wit
I would say that Marks is the best to imitate. To act like Icahn and Munger (who are very different, but again somewhat similar as they shoot as they see it) you need to have F you money
Almost everyone I've met that succeeded in Private Wealth has demonstrated above average charisma. Same for those who succeed in institutional sales.
Gary Parr is very charismatic, but not charming...
Which is indicative of psychopathy.
If you're consciously thinking about being charismatic, you're probably not charismatic and come off as awkward. The most charismatic people have natural charisma, and don't have to "learn" it or contrive it, it's just who they are.
This is why it's important to follow your passions to reach the top levels. I could talk for hours with enthusiasm about my passions. I couldn't for stuff I am not that interested in.
some are charismatic because they are exuberant, take up space and gesticulate. others are charismatic because they are quiet, still and can hold their nerve. I think I tried to ask WSO this before and got no answers, but its a big topic for me, I try to emulate others but what worked best for me was videoing myself talking. My most charismatic times have been during interviews but more recently when investors have come in to hear our pitch.
I have a YouTube library dedicated to interviews where I've found people charismatic, looking at this list it includes -
- Sergio leone - Italian film director
- Jay shetty - social media/mindfulness guru
- Jair Bolsonoro - (ex) Brasilian president
- Sean Connery - the best James Bond
- Paul Newman - actor
- John Cleese - actor/comedian
- Margaret Thatcher - ex British PM
- Jack Harlow - Musician
- Sergey Lavrov - Russian foreign minister
- Paulo Di Canio - ex footballer
- Steve Schwarzman - King of capital
- Mervyn King - ex BoE governor
- Russell Brand - 'comedian'
- Yul Brynner - actor
- Sir Ben Kingsley - actor
- George Cole - actor
- Prince Philip - British royal family
- Marlon Brando - actor
- Alain De Botton - author/philosopher
- Bill Ackman - investor
- Andrea Orcel - UBS
- Jim Donovon - GS MD
- Phillipe Chaineux - made.com founder
- Barry Hearn - founder of matchroom boxing (my favourite style)
but one of the most charismatic people in finance is David cantillon at Morgan Stanley imo
Appreciatie the list mate, totally agree that it can be very beneficial to study other people on this subject. I would like to add some names that I find to be charismatic in their own ways
- John Mack
- niall ferguson
- Kent Swig (real estate guy)
- Henry Kravis
- The late Jimmy Lee
- Berlusconi
- Porfirio Rubirosa (Dominican diplomat)
Jordan Belfort lol
Everyone here writing dissertations on how to exactly triangulate the exact way to be charismatic is missing the whole point. Initiation is no good either - just obfuscates authenticity and I find some of the most charismatic people to be truly themselves. They are most comfortable in what they do, which translates to a relaxed presentation when discussing whatever - because it’s what they live and breathe.
Think about that one thing you nerd out on, you could read about it for hours, watch content about it, either do it in your free time or would if you could. Now think about when you’ve had a couple drinks and start to warm up / become more chatty and someone asks you about that one thing you’re excited about. Chances are you’ll come across as passionate, knowledgeable, and depending what type of drinker you are — you won’t be so damn uptight when trying to explain to people.
This site is great for deep analysis on anything technical, some of you are truly brilliant systematic and meticulous thinkers — but that is not what charisma is. Charisma is beaming about something and communicating that energy to someone else to make them feel that same excitement or interest, even if they never have before.
somewhat agree, but I believe the OP is trying to enhance his charisma from a professional POV, I believe there is a limit to how passionate and excited you can be about ppt's and .xls
I'll take a different view of things from everyone above me. Overall, I agree with the book recommendations, How to Influence Friends & Win People (or the other way around, I just call it the Dale Carnegie book of Influence) as well as looking into charismatic leaders are all fantastic. My recommendation would be to create a small set of habits to practice your soft skills. I actually struggled (and still do) with interpersonal communication - I found that writing and specifically writing in answering a question or thesis helps structure thoughts before I say anything and practicing communicating, as trivial as conversation for interviews, or summarizing recent news events for discussions in my former placements, all helped improve my soft skills.
Charisma, in my view, is saying something that is heard, and in that, the underlying information doesn't change, but the delivery changes drastically. So if you craft a few ways to practice your delivery, i.e. craft a finance blog to summarize news or deliver an answer to a random question in any given day, you'll be consciously forcing yourself to structure your thoughts in a succinct manner.
Just my two cents on the discussion.
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