Would you know a psychopath if you met one? After all, not all psychopaths are criminal masterminds or serial killers. They could be a friend, a loved one or, more likely, your boss.
About 1 per cent of adults experience the lack of shame, guilt or empathy towards others that marks them as a psychopath. But while, predictably, the proportion of diagnosable psychopaths rises to 20 per cent among the prison population, shockingly a similar concentration can be found among corporate bosses.
So how can you figure out if you’re among the unlucky employees who work for one? Here, we ask experts for their 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 with the societal norm. Almost all of these ‘corporate psychopaths’ are in roles of responsibility.
Dr Holly Andrews, associate professor in coaching and behavioural 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 degree with traits of psychopathy, for example, the ability to influence and manipulate,’ she explains. ‘Psychopaths are good interview candidates as they are charming, able to tell convincing stories and don’t experience anxiety. They are also calm and confident in a crisis.’
Experts warn that psychopaths treat colleagues and other people purely as objects to exploit. To them, the company is a vehicle to help them attain power and wealth.
Dr Clive Boddy, associate professor of management at Anglia Ruskin University, says: ‘Corporate psychopaths are those charmingly engaging but egotistical people with no conscience who can apply a ruthlessly efficient, but ultimately exploitative, strategy towards fulfilling their own career objectives, often at the expense of other people.’
Part of the reason psychopaths are such successful manipulators is that, though they don’t 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, an inability to admit mistakes, passing blame to others and an inability to work in groups because they always try to dominate.
But they’re brilliant at masking their failings in order to reach the top, warns Dr Tomasz Piotr Wisniewski, professor of finance at the Open University.
‘Psychopaths are masters of disguise and often put up a facade of being a good friend. Their inflated sense of self is often mistaken for charisma.
‘Psychopaths are also more likely to undertake studies in business and management, as such career paths can give them control over other people. Psychopaths often exploit junior colleagues and create chaos to cover up misdeeds.’
There is less research on female psychopaths than males, but Dr Andrews says: ‘There is evidence that female psychopathy may be more subtle, particularly the interpersonal traits. For example, the manipulation seen in men is more likely to manifest as flirtation in female psychopaths.’
What damage can they cause?
‘In organisations 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 damaging staff morale and the company’s reputation. ‘They cause low levels of job satisfaction, reduced productivity, and high staff turnover. Part of the reason for this is that they aren’t even good at their jobs,’ explains Dr Taylor. ‘In many cases, they aren’t particularly intelligent or astute.
‘Whereas some business or political leaders may slowly work their way 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 thugs who push themselves to the front of a queue, knowing 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 should understand that they are always going to prioritise personal advantage – so see if you can ‘align what’s in their interest with what’s in the organisation’s interest’.
If you are their junior and think they are trying to sabotage your work, she adds: ‘Build self-awareness so you know your weak points that might be used for manipulating you, keep communication open with as many colleagues as you can so you don’t get isolated by the psychopath.’
If you’re trying to manage somebody who is psychopathic ‘you’ve got to get them onside rather than exert authority to work with them. If you’ve got somebody in a leadership position, you can place a ‘counter-sidekick’ with them – someone who’s got the opposing traits. But they would have to be trusted by the psychopathic individual or they could end up getting ousted from the group’.
Finally, rather than having a culture that focuses only on the bottom line, place value on process, openness and honesty. It makes it ‘less easy for someone with psychopathic traits to blend into that situation’.
