What separates leaders who genuinely inspire trust from those who just have good data or natural charm? In this episode of Decoding Confidence, I dig into one of the most powerful concepts in my upcoming book: charismatic confidence. On this sweet spot, warmth and competence work together to create leaders people actually want to follow.
Drawing on research from Harvard Business School, Amy Cuddy’s social psychology work, and Vanessa Van Edwards’ book Cues, I unpack why trust is built through warmth first and reinforced through competence, not the other way around. I share real stories, practical strategies, and honest self-reflection from my own journey to help you identify where you sit on the warmth-competence scale and what to do about it.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- Why the most magnetic leaders aren’t just charming or just competent — they’re both, and they know how to blend the two
- The research behind charismatic confidence and why warmth always has to come before competence in trust-building
- How to recognise whether you’re more Ted Lasso (all warmth, less substance) or Miranda Priestly (all competence, zero connection)
- A self-assessment framework to honestly identify where you sit on the warmth-competence scale
- Practical, immediately actionable strategies to build warmth if it doesn’t come naturally to you
- Quick wins to strengthen your competence without losing your warmth — including ditching the word ‘just’
- How charismatically confident leaders become ‘confidence multipliers’ and elevate the people around them
- The danger of overconfidence and the Dunning-Kruger effect — and why ‘fake it till you make it’ can be genuinely dangerous
Resources & Links Mentioned
- Cues by Vanessa Van Edwards — research on vocal and social cues, warmth and competence signals
- Amy Cuddy’s research on trust and power — Harvard Business School work on warmth-first trust building
- OC Tanner research on employee recognition and engagement
- Keegan and Lahey research on peer support networks and confidence
- Advita’s upcoming book out May 5th, pre-order now.