Comparison Between Corporate Psychopath And The Joker

The little boy who lives down the street, the business man you pass by everyday to work, the surgeon who operated on your aunt last year; they could all be psychopaths. According to Dr. Robert Hare’s estimation, 1% of the general population has psychopathic personality disorder (Babiak). Most people assume psychopaths are violent mass murderers, as commonly portrayed by pop culture by characters such as Voldemort, Moriarty, or the Joker. However, real-life psychopaths are more subtly manipulative, luring in unsuspecting victims who only become aware of the truth when it’s too late.

Corporate Psychopath vs. the Joker Sources: http://dougleschan.com/the-recruitment-guru/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/headhunter-singapore-best.jpg
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These individuals only experience superficial emotions, and have no significant relationships (Hare). Psychopaths usually have a parasitic existence, living off of exploiting others generosity (Kiehl). They accomplish such relationships through their charisma, which allows them to charm gullible victims (“What is a Psychopath?”). Because of their lack of empathy, fear, or guilt, they can easily deceive people, and are pathological liars (Keysers). Another key personality trait, their egocentric perspective, can help identify the disorder, where they view everyone else as weak and vastly inferior (Hare). The strongly genetic disorder causes psychopaths to exhibit violent tendencies already in their youth, and typically are juvenile delinquents (“What is a Psychopath?”). They are impulsive, irresponsible risk-takers who lack realistic long-term goals
The overrepresentation shown indicates the business environment appeals to a psychopathic personality. Psychopaths naturally possess many qualities interpretable as good leadership attributes. For example, they can keep calm under pressure, and are bold ambitious thinkers. These are skills companies need in their leaders, due to the market’s pressure for change and fast decisions in order to survive. They look for people who are comfortable with making these decisions with less information and recover quickly from their mistakes (Babiak). Job interviews also work in a psychopath’s favor, because their charisma, confidence, and calm intelligent demeanor instantly make them a liked candidate. (“Spotting Psychopaths at Work”). The state of constant change and chaos present in transitioning organizations also gives the psychopath cover for his lacking skills, because the company doesn’t have time to evaluate their behavior, and his superficial charms and cleverly manipulated short-term results propel him up the ranks (Babiak). In the article, “Study: 1 in 25 Business Leaders May Be Psychopaths”, it reports, “Psychopaths are actually poor managerial performers but are adept at climbing the corporate ladder because they can cover up their weaknesses by subtly charming superiors and subordinates” (Szalavitz). Although the psychopath is a bad leader with negative