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I’ve been working in the area of leadership development for over 25 years and have had the privilege of working with leaders from some of the world’s leading organisations. It’s fascinating to observe different styles of leadership and to see how the most effective leaders inspire and engage others. Babiak and Hare claim that psychopaths are actually attracted to business life because they are adept at looking like they’re good leaders – even when their true actions and results may tell a very different story.
Although a mere 1% of the general public can be classed as psychopathic, it seems that psychopaths are four times more prevalent in corporate life because they are adept at identifying and displaying the kind of attributes than tend to be admired in the workplace. Many psychopaths have the ability to charm others – or in the case of business leaders, to be charismatic and engaging. Should we be worried? And how can we spot - and stop - a psycho?
Hare describes corporate psychopaths as manipulative, arrogant, callous, impatient, impulsive, unreliable and prone to fly into rages. He claims they break promises, take credit for the work of others, and blame everyone else when things go wrong. We’ve all seen people like this in the workplace. But how do they get away with it? Hare claims that ‘getting away with it’ is precisely where the psychopath’s ability to appear charismatic and engaging really comes into its own. Psycho leaders are skilled at identifying the traits their employer values and projecting them. In other words, they are master manipulators.
Babiak also claims to have dealt with corporate psychopaths who enjoy causing others pain. For example, they may take pleasure in firing others or giving them a public dressing-down. Again, many of us have had the misfortune to witness this type of behaviour. It can create a culture of fear and paranoia which dominates an organisation and erodes trust.
Babiak actually believes that the pace of change in corporate life is increasingly appealing to psychopaths. These people are not attracted to bureaucracies, but thrive in environments with few rules and regulations. Empathy and authenticity are also valued leadership characteristics today. Psychopaths are clever at making you think they are genuinely interested in and understand you, but they are simply doing this to serve their own purpose.
So how can the non-psychopathic leaders amongst us address this issue? One thing we can do is to connect more widely with colleagues across all organisational levels. We can also avoid some of the more extreme behaviours mentioned above. There are of course degrees of psychopathy. So while it’s a good idea to be aware of it in the workplace, there’s no need to get too worried that your charming and charismatic colleague is turning into Hannibal Lecter next time he says to you ‘I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner’. That would just be paranoia – which is a topic for another day.
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