'Too Much Charisma Is Bad for Leadership', Art Markman, Posted Mar 26, 2018. The word charisma is a blanket term for a set of behaviours or traits a person has that make them engaging and cause others to want to listen to them and follow them. It is hard to be a good leader without some degree of charisma. Great leaders inspire us to be better than we have been in the past and to follow their vision for the future.