Psychopathy And Leadership

Psychopathy and Leadership in the Corporate World

It is ironic but at the same time highly intriguing that traits like charm, charisma, verbal aptitude, and lack of emotional poverty can be characteristic of both CEO’s and psychopaths. Given the tendency of the media to represent psychopaths as hardened criminals or mental patients, it may come as an unsettling revelation that there are also a number of psychopaths walking among us in suits. Unfortunately, little clinical work has been done in confirming the actual number of psychopaths in the business world due to a difficulty finding consenting corporations, and the risk of lawsuits or violating privacy laws. Before the research conducted in a recent study called “Corporate Psychopathy:
While the Babiak (et al.) study states that the effect of education on PCL-R scores was not statistically significant, it neglects to account for the fact that the study was only conducted on participants with at least an associate’s degree. Thus, this conclusion can not be extended to the general population. The study characterizes psychopaths as being primarily glib and charming, without addressing the fact that not all psychopaths have this ability and thus their disorder manifests itself in very different ways as these individuals gravitate towards aggression or threats to achieve their goals. The article, in addition, includes tips for employers on avoiding pitfalls of hiring based on charm. It emphasizes studying tangible achievements and gauging the individuals moral compass and value
Only half of the article, however, was devoted to this study, with the other half divided between a discussion of Babiak’s book, “Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work,” and the author’s personal reasons for his interest in the topic as well as his advice for dealing with it. In terms of congruity between the two accounts, there were no glaring discrepancies, but there was one point from both with which I had