Why Carly Fiorina got fired – because her actions didn’t live up to her charisma; Gladwell cautions against this. “Rakesh Khurana…found that search committees were often so wowed by presentations from charismatic candidates that they failed to carry out full assessments of record, skills and industry expertise…The emphasis on charisma artificially limits the number of candidates considered, giving them extraordinary leverage to demand high salaries and power. It also raises expectations and increases the chance that a CEO will be fired for failing to meet shareholders’ hopes…While presentational skills are a requisite of any senior executive role, they must be accompanied by deep industry knowledge, operational knowhow and a knack for strategic decision-making. ‘Charisma is not a very good proxy for these qualities,’ notes Mike Useem, professor of management at the Wharton School of Business.”