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30 PEOPLE MANAGEMENT Dangerous liaisons Are you sitting next to a narcissist? Is the office manager a little too Machiavellian for your liking? Did that colleague giving a PowerPoint presentation the other day seem a bit psychopathic? Holly Andrews and Dr Jan Francis-Smythe examine the negative consequences of people with extreme personalities here is often a fine line between learn from punishment and reckless behaviour (Hare, self-confidence and grandiosity, 1991). Tpersuasiveness and manipula- Outside of clinical settings, people can possess these tion. Those that border on the traits to varying degrees. A small tendency towards these extreme in this way tend to thrive in traits may be considered 'normal' or even beneficial to fast-paced, transitional organisa- success in the business world. The greater the degree, the tions with low levels of bureaucracy where they can greater the potential problem for organisations, as evidence more easily mask their narcissism, Machiavellianism suggests people possessing high levels of these traits may or psychopathy* – or all three forms of personality have a negative impact on organisational performance dysfunction**. and create interpersonal difficulties in the workplace. The current economic climate is ideal for such personality types and they may be more difficult to How do they get hired? spot amongst all the change that is taking place in Organisations often actively recruit for people who organisations due to the recession – but this just makes possess the desirable side of these traits. For example, the them even more of a potential threat. desirable trait of charisma maps onto the negative trait of superficial charm (see chart with list of desirable and Who are these people? corresponding undesirable traits). A key problem for At the heart of psychopathy, narcissism and recruiters is that undesirable traits are not particularly Machiavellianism is a willingness to exploit other people easy to spot. For example, psychopathy was dubbed ‘the for personal gain. See chart for the relationship between mask of sanity’ by Cleckley (1976), in reference to the three dysfunctions: the observation that psychopaths often appear perfectly 'normal'. • Narcissism is defined by traits including fantasies of Research has shown that extremes of these desirable power, exaggerated sense of self-importance, traits can lead to poor performance and managerial entitlement, need for admiration and power, lack of derailment. Recruiters may therefore be fooled into empathy, and exploitation of others (American thinking that they are hiring a very desirable candidate Psychiatric Association, 2000) when they are actually recruiting an individual with too •The concept of Machiavellianism has developed from much of a good thing. Given the traits associated with the writings of Machiavelli, an Italian Renaissance these kinds of dysfunction, recruiters may also find diplomat and writer. More recently, the concept has themselves manipulated by the candidate, further com- been reinvented as a personality orientation. Christie plicating the problem. & Geis (1970) define somebody who ‘views and Certain types of organisations and industries are manipulates others for his own purpose’ as being of predicted to be more attractive to those with personality Machiavellian character dysfunction than others. Occupations that offer • Psychopathy is a constellation of interpersonal opportunities to exploit people and gain power and and lifestyle traits including lack of empathy rewards, combined with a lack of bureaucracy and a and remorse, superficial charm, grandiosity, fast-paced environment, are predicted to be particularly irresponsibility, egocentricity, pathological attractive (Babiak & Hare, 2006). Research has found lying, inability to delay gratification, failure to higher levels of dysfunctional traits in those employed in professional managermay2010 31 sales, law, psychiatry, politics, finance and science, for (Chart adapted from Babiak & Hare, 2006) example. Desirable Undesirable Babiak & Hare (2006) outline some of the main ways Charismatic Superficial charm recruiters can avoid attracting an individual with a personality dysfunction and ensure the selection of a Self-confidence Grandiosity candidate who can perform well: Ability to influence Manipulation • Take care in the wording of your advertisement. Words Persuasive Exploitative such as ‘visionary’, ‘persuasive’ and ‘influential’ are Visionary thinking Fantasies of power green lights for psychopaths, narcissists and Machiavellians Ability to take risks Impulsive • Employ structured selection processes Action oriented Poor planning • Avoid a single interview with one interviewer. This is Ability to make Lack of effect the situation that gives maximum opportunity for hard decisions manipulation • Consider using psychometric tests designed to identify ensuring the full extent of the dysfunctional individual’s negative characteristics behaviour is not known. Those who may speak out • Check all references thoroughly. against the individual may have their reputation undermined so any concerns raised are not heeded. How do they perform on the job? The current economic climate may provide further Research has found evidence of individuals with high cover for negative behaviours. The credit crunch has levels of traits associated with all three kinds of forced many organisations into a period of rapid change dysfunction working within organisations. Their success and turbulence. Such organisational chaos allows appears to reside in an ability to appear as a good employee, individuals with personality dysfunction the maximum regardless of actual performance. latitude to cover their negative behaviours. For example, Psychopathic individuals perform as little work organisational structures may change quickly allowing personally as is possible, preferring to exploit colleagues the dysfunctional employee to move from one group to accomplish tasks. Narcissistic and Machiavellian of co-workers to another before the extent of their individuals appear to be able to perform conceptual, manipulation and lack of productivity is discovered. task-related elements of a job (if they choose to) but not contextual elements. Lack of performance is covered by What happens next? a superficial façade that is presented to those who have The impact of working with an individual who possesses influence. Narcissists and psychopaths, in particular, make a personality dysfunction can be immense. Psychopaths, use of their charm and charisma to convince others that in particular, can have an extremely negative impact upon they are loyal and hard working employees. co-workers. As previously mentioned, those who threaten Because of their appearance of competence, they are the psychopath may have their reputation undermined often identified as having high potential or as future and their career derailed. leaders and promoted into such roles. This can be Managers may also find themselves superseded by the detrimental to an organisation, as they are not actually psychopathic subordinate. Working with someone as good performers nor do they have the personal skills exploitative and manipulative as a psychopath can have an necessary to successfully lead a team. impact on a co-workers’ mental health as well as their The traits that lead them to be identified as leaders, career. Individuals have anecdotally reported stress, such as self-confidence, may become weaknesses when in anxiety and depression as a consequence of working with a position of leadership. For example, narcissists, who are someone who appears to possess a dysfunctional personality. likely to overflow with self-belief, have this reinforced The impact of an individual with a personality when given power. This may result in the narcissistic dysfunction may not be limited to unpleasant experiences leader becoming increasingly self-involved, believing only for co-workers. Narcissism has been linked to counter- in his or her own ideas and implementing them without productive work behaviour, risky decision-making, careful evaluation. resource destruction and even white-collar crime (see In general, psychopaths, narcissists and Machiavellians Brunell et al, 2008). are not good people managers, disliking competition from Babiak (2000) suggests that employing a psychopath any bright subordinates. They may choose to favour only may lead to a “breakdown in team work, a decline in those that pose no threat or support them unquestioningly. departmental morale, and a general disintegration of the They may also limit the development opportunities work unit...” (p.303). He suggests this may have a available to their team to reduce competition. They are negative impact on productivity, quality, customer service likely to claim any team success for themselves whilst blame and retention of talented staff, although it is difficult to for failure will be apportioned to other team members. establish clear cause and effect relationships. Despite such negative behaviours, research suggests Despite this difficulty there is no shortage of anecdotal that those with personality dysfunction remain rarely and theoretical support for the relationship of personality challenged in the workplace. Their negative behaviours dysfunction to poor organisational outcomes. Many are covered not only by their charm but by their ability to examples of organisational corruption and collapse, such manipulate co-workers and organisational systems. as that of Enron, have been

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