Would you recognize a psychopath if you met one? After all, not all psychopaths are criminal masterminds or serial killers. It could be a friend, a loved one or, more likely, your boss.
About 1 percent of adults experience the lack of shame, guilt, or empathy toward others that labels them a psychopath. But while, predictably, the proportion of diagnosable psychopaths among the prison population rises to 20 percent, a similar concentration can shockingly be found among corporate executives.
So how can you find out if you are among the unhappy employees working for a company? Here we ask experts for advice on how to tell if your boss is a psychopath…
What is a corporate psychopath?
Within the business community, the concentration of psychopaths is significantly greater than the social norm. Almost all of these ‘corporate psychopaths’ fulfill responsible roles.
Dr. Holly Andrews, associate professor of coaching and behavior change at Henley Business School, says this suggests psychopaths are more successful in a business environment than the average person.
“Traits associated with successful leadership overlap to some extent with traits of psychopathy, for example the ability to influence and manipulate,” she explains. ‘Psychopaths are good interview candidates because they are charming, can tell convincing stories and do not experience fear. Even in a crisis they are calm and confident.’
Experts warn that psychopaths treat colleagues and other people purely as objects to exploit. For them, the business is a means to acquire power and wealth.
About 1 percent of adults experience the lack of shame, guilt, or empathy toward others that labels them as psychopaths
Dr. Clive Boddy, Associate Professor of Management at Anglia Ruskin University, said: ‘Corporate psychopaths are charmingly engaging but selfish people without conscience who can employ a ruthlessly efficient, but ultimately exploitative, strategy to achieve their own career goals, often in the nick of time. at the expense of other people.’
Part of the reason psychopaths are such successful manipulators is that even though they don’t experience emotions personally, they understand them on a cognitive level.
What are the signs to look out for?
Dr. Steve Taylor, author of DisConnected: The Roots Of Human Cruelty, says traits include recklessness, grandiosity, the inability to admit mistakes, shifting blame to others, and the inability to work in groups because they are always trying to dominate, can encompass.
But they are brilliant at masking their shortcomings to reach the top, warns Dr Tomasz Piotr Wisniewski, professor of finance at the Open University.
‘Psychopaths are masters of disguise and often put on the facade of good friends. Their inflated self-esteem is often confused with charisma.
‘Psychopaths are also more likely to study business and management, as such career paths can give them control over other people. Psychopaths often exploit younger colleagues and create chaos to cover up misdeeds.’
Less research has been done on female psychopaths than on men, but Dr. Andrews says: ‘There is some evidence that female psychopathy may be more subtle, especially the interpersonal features. For example, the manipulation observed in men is more likely to manifest itself as flirtation in female psychopaths.’
What damage can they cause??
‘In organizations with psychopaths we see higher levels of bullying and conflict,’ says Dr Andrews. “They are associated with sabotage, theft and white-collar crime.”
They can have a ‘catastrophic effect’, including damage to staff morale and the company’s reputation. ‘They cause low job satisfaction, reduced productivity and high employee turnover. Part of the reason for this is because they’re not even good at their jobs,” Dr. Taylor explains. ‘In many cases they are not particularly intelligent or astute.
“While some business or political leaders may slowly claw their way to the top because of their ability and determination, hyper-connected leaders simply claw their way to the top with their ruthlessness and cunning, like criminals who put themselves at the front of the line Push. , knowing that other people are too scared to stop them.”
How should you respond to one?
If you have no choice but to work with a corporate psychopath, says Dr. Andrews, you need to understand that they will always prioritize personal benefit — so see if you can “align what’s in their best interest with what’s in their best interest.” of the organization’.
If you’re their junior and think they’re trying to sabotage your work, she adds, “Build self-awareness so you know your weaknesses that could be used to manipulate you, keep communication open with as many colleagues as possible so you don’t ‘get isolated by the psychopath.’
If you are trying to manage someone who is psychopathic, you need to involve them rather than exert authority to work with them. If you have someone in a leadership position, you can place a “countersidekick” with him or her – someone who has the opposite qualities. But they would have to be trusted by the psychopathic individual, otherwise they could end up being expelled from the group.”
Finally, place value on process, openness and honesty, rather than having a culture that focuses only on the end result. It makes it “less easy for someone with psychopathic traits to blend into that situation.”