Would you know a psychopath if you did? 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 a lack of shame, guilt, or empathy toward others that marks them as psychopaths. But while the proportion of diagnosable psychopaths unsurprisingly rises to 20 percent among the prison population, a surprisingly similar concentration can be found among corporate bosses.
So how can you tell if you’re among the unlucky employees who work for one? Here we ask the experts for advice on how to tell if your boss is a psychopath…
What is a corporate psychopath?
Within the corporate sphere, the concentration of psychopaths is significantly inflated compared to the social norm. Almost all of these “corporate psychopaths” are in senior roles.
Dr Holly Andrews, associate professor of coaching and behavior change at Henley Business School, says this suggests that psychopaths are more successful in a corporate 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,” he explains. ‘Psychopaths make good interview candidates because they are charming, able to tell compelling stories, and do not experience anxiety. “They are also calm and confident in a crisis.”
Experts warn that psychopaths treat their colleagues and other people simply as objects to exploit. For them, the company is a vehicle that helps them achieve power and wealth.
About 1 percent of adults experience a lack of shame, guilt, or empathy toward others that marks them as psychopaths.
Dr Clive Boddy, associate professor of management at Anglia Ruskin University, says: “Corporate psychopaths are those charmingly attractive but selfish people without a conscience who can apply a ruthlessly efficient, but ultimately exploitative, strategy to meet their own objectives. professionals, often at the same level. at the expense of other people.’
Part of the reason psychopaths are such successful manipulators is that, although they do not experience emotions personally, they understand them on a cognitive level.
What are the signs to look for?
Dr. Steve Taylor, author of DisConnected: The Roots Of Human Cruelty, says traits can include recklessness, grandiosity, inability to admit mistakes, blaming others, and inability to work in groups because they are always trying to dominate.
But they are brilliant at masking their failures to reach the top, warns Dr Tomasz Piotr Wisniewski, professor of finance at the Open University.
‘Psychopaths are masters of disguise and often pretend to be good friends. Their exaggerated sense of self is often mistaken for charisma.
«Psychopaths are also more likely to pursue management and business studies, as these career paths can give them control over other people. Psychopaths often exploit their younger colleagues and create chaos to cover up their misdeeds.’
There is less research on female psychopaths than on men, but Dr. Andrews says, “There is evidence that female psychopathy may be more subtle, particularly in interpersonal traits.” For example, manipulation seen in men is more likely to manifest as flirting 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 levels of job satisfaction, reduced productivity and high staff turnover. Part of the reason is that they are not even good at their jobs,” explains Dr. Taylor. ‘In many cases, they are not particularly intelligent or astute.
“While some business or political leaders may slowly rise to the top due to their ability and determination, hyper-disconnected leaders simply push their way to the top with their ruthlessness and cunning, like bullies pushing themselves to the front of a queue, 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, Dr. Andrews says you need to understand that he will always put personal advantages first, so see if you can “align what’s in your best interest with what’s in the company’s best interest.” organization”.
If you are his junior and you think they are trying to sabotage your work, add: “Develop your self-awareness to know your weak points that could be used to manipulate you, keep open communication with as many colleagues as you can so you don’t allow yourself to be isolated by the psychopath.
If you are trying to manage someone who is a psychopath, you have to involve them rather than exerting authority to work with them. If you have someone in a leadership position, you can give them a “counterpartner,” someone who has the opposite traits. But the psychopathic individual would have to trust them or they could end up being kicked out of the group.”
Finally, instead of having a culture that focuses solely on the end result, value process, openness, and honesty. It makes it “less easy for someone with psychopathic traits to blend into that situation.”