In everyday parlance, charisma is often used as a colorful synonym for sex appeal or popularity. It is also invoked to explain how certain types of people become leaders. Yet, the reverse is more likely to be true: very few national political leaders selected by established party and electoral processes are charismatic. Charisma comes from the Greek kahrisma: gift of grace, the partaking of the divine. Weber emphasizes that charisma refers to "an extraordinary quality of a person, ... to which the governed submit because of their belief " (Gerth and Mills 1946, 52 and 295.)

The vertical axis places charisma between the group which acknowledges the sign of grace and the leadership role to which the chosen or self-selected person is anointed. The horizontal axis traces the development from the originating crisis - the "charismatic moment" - toward its likely output: institutionalization.