Psychopaths lack empathy, are pathological liars, have an enormous sense of self-worth, are impulsive, irresponsible and won’t accept responsibility for their own actions.
They make up 1% of the total population, 25% of the criminal population. But do you recognize the traits. Perhaps in the upper reaches of your corporation or our Governments?
The Psy-Fi Blog in their blog Is your CEO a Psychopath? puts a strong case for as high as 4% of corporate boardrooms have psychopaths as inmates.
Here are some traits to watch out for, or maybe aspire to if you want to make it to the top of the corporate world.
- They have superficial charm: They are a smooth talker and very charming.
- They are self-centered and think they are way more important than others, even if in reality they aren’t.
- They have a need for stimulation and is prone to boredom.
- Their behavior is deceptive: They lie and cheat without difficulty. They don’t mind being caught.
- They manipulate others for personal gain.
- They show little remorse or guilt. Sometimes They’ll say there sorry, just so others will stop bugging her/him.
- Their emotional response is shallow.
- They are callous with a lack of empathy. They feels no pity.
- They lives off others or has a predatory attitude.
- They have poor self-control.
- They are promiscuous.
- They had behavioral problems at an early age already.
- They lacks the ability to set realistic long term goals.
- They have an impulsive lifestyle. They are a risk-taker.
- They behave irresponsibly.
- They always blame others for their behavior.
- They can only commit to short term relationships.
As this presentation from the UK’s Institute of Risk Management suggests there are a range of possible problems with psychopaths in the boardroom. These include risky decision making, unethical behavior and a lack of loyalty to the company and stakeholders: does this sound familiar? One of the problems with these people is they’re very good at managing upwards – they charm superiors, manipulate peers and abuse subordinates. Once they get in senior positions it’s easy to see how problems could escalate.
So the argument is that the rise of the mantra of value maximisation, increased corporate instability and the ever increasing turnover of staff has allowed corporate psychopaths to flourish, further reinforced by the desire of the media to find ‘media-friendly CEOs. Recent examples are the late Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Richard Branson and Alan Sugar who by all accounts are not cuddly, empathetic leaders. They are ruthless and driven.
And it appears it is fine line between the focused, driven leader and the psychopath.
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Ian, you’ve also just described someone with pathological narcissistic disorder. This is much more common that full-blown psychopathic behavior although similarly disruptive to those around them.
In my experience as a consultant to small businesses, I find a disproportionate number of these types in leadership positions. Why? Because narcissism, as it is often referred, is a compensation for not have sufficient emotional support as a child. Usually, one or more parents made them to feel inadequate and their response is to develop a strategy to force the world to see them as great. What better way to do that than lead your own company. Not to mention that these folks tend not to play very well with others unless they are in control. Most people who suffer from this a physically attractive and they use their ability to seduce others as a jump off point to engage them in their charade.
Many of these people self-destruct or remain relatively isolated because few people can tolerate them for extended periods of time. But, the 4% you speak of probably fell into favorable circumstances and managed to get past the typical roadblocks.
Years ago as a Navy officer I spent time working with the senior staff in Leavenworth, Kansas at the “United States Disciplinary Barracks”…AKA the military’s maximum security prison. There were Canadians there studying psychopathy amongst the prisoners, since the military as a unique set of prisoners at that location (mostly first time offenders but for serious crimes like murder and rape). It was fascinating to talk with them and hear their theories. There’s even a test that scores an individual, but the overall description they used was, “Someone who significantly undervalues others and significantly overvalues themselves.” Interesting.
Tom
Thanks, you have put some science behind my observations. Very helpful
Ian, you might be interested to know there is a specific field of study devoted to topics like this. It’s called ponerology and I’ve linked to a very thorough page on the subject. It will really put the pieces of this puzzle together for you I believe.