Getting charisma and popular means you should not be eloquent but focused on your message.  And nothing uplifts and inspires than offering hope.

This article analyzes How Obama does it.

i think i need to revisit the idea of offering hope again.  For the last few years, the buzzword I have been getting was ‘manage customer expectations.’  In short, don’t promise anything you cannot do.

But then again, people don’t stick with you unless you are positive, and offers hope.  Maybe there should be a balance struck in between.

How to Inspire People Like Obama Does

We have been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.”

You are the leader people want to believe in. Your customers and employees are bombarded by bad news—the credit crunch, a housing slump, an economic slowdown—but they are eager to hear something positive.

Excellent article in businessweek on what it means to have an advantage by being ‘ business-oriented’, and ‘entrepreneurial’.

Knowing how certain things relate to others, and seeing the forest and not get lost in the trees, these are essential skills in whatever industry to move forward.

Techies Need to Know the Business

Technical experts need to be viewed and developed as business professionals early in their careers; at the speed of business today, it’s essential to align every activity to strategy. Increasingly, areas such as information technology and R&D are moving from being cost centers to driving business strategy. Effective leaders in technical areas require an understanding of the business that extends beyond a single department or function.

People who truly “know the business” think strategically and recognize
how everything fits together. This requires seeing things from the
point of view of other departments, understanding how financial data
drive organizations, and having a working knowledge of core functions,
such as the supply chain, marketing, and human resources. Effective
leaders also have a personal presence that enables them to communicate
confidently across departments and to guide and work in teams, while
making smart and ethical decisions.

Just read this, and thought it was worthwhile to reflect:

How can a 6 foot tall man drown in a pond with an average water level of 2 feet? Why, because you are talking about averages — there might still be areas of the pond where the water could be eight feet deep.