A narcissistic leader is someone who craves power, prestige, and admiration from others. They have an inflated sense of self-importance and entitlement, and they lack empathy for others. Narcissistic leaders often exploit and manipulate people for personal gain. Their behavior can have detrimental effects on organizations and employees. While narcissism exists on a spectrum, truly narcissistic leaders can wreak havoc in the workplace. Understanding the characteristics and behaviors of narcissistic leaders can help identify them and mitigate their impact.
What are the characteristics of a narcissistic leader?
Narcissistic leaders tend to display the following characteristics:
- Grandiose sense of self-importance – They have an exaggerated sense of their own skills, accomplishments, and abilities. They believe they are superior to others.
- Preoccupation with success and power – They are obsessed with success as defined by prestige, status, power, and dominance over others. This fuels their self-importance.
- Sense of entitlement – They feel entitled to special privileges and feel they can disregard rules that apply to others.
- Lack of empathy – They are unable to understand or share in the feelings of others. They lack compassion and concern for people.
- Exploitativeness – They take advantage of others to achieve their own goals. They may manipulate, mistreat, or exploit colleagues.
- Arrogance – They come across as arrogant, haughty, and snobbish. They speak in a patronizing manner.
- Jealousy of others – They are envious of others who threaten to take away attention and praise. They may react with rage or try to undercut others’ success.
- Fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance – They believe they will achieve extraordinary success and power with little effort.
In short, narcissistic leaders are self-centered, lack empathy, crave power and acclaim, and don’t hesitate to exploit or mistreat people to prop up their delusions of grandeur. Their main motivations are gaining power and external validation.
How does a narcissistic leader behave?
The behavior patterns of narcissistic leaders include:
- Dominating conversations – They constantly turn conversations back to themselves rather than listening to others. They boast about accomplishments.
- Exaggerating achievements – They inflate their own achievements and talents. They take credit for successes that belong to others.
- Minimizing mistakes – They blame failures and mistakes on others rather than taking responsibility. They are unable to learn from failures.
- Surrounding themselves with sycophants – They favor employees who flatter them constantly. They shun employees who question them or threaten their self-image.
- Reacting to criticism with rage – They become angry and lash out when criticized. They are unable to take constructive feedback.
- Making impulsive, risky decisions – They make reckless decisions to feed their egos. Their lack of empathy leads them to pursue high-risk ventures without regard for consequences.
- Exploiting and manipulating people – They use charm to manipulate people for personal gain. They play favorites and pit employees against each other.
- Taking credit for others’ achievements – They steal credit from employees to bolster their image. They downplay others’ contributions.
- Refusing to take responsibility for failures – They deflect blame and avoid accepting responsibility for mistakes and failures. They never apologize.
In essence, narcissistic leaders gravitate toward flattery and power. They dominate interactions, crave the spotlight, bend the rules, and manipulate people. When challenged or criticized, they lash out in rage.
What drives narcissistic leaders?
Narcissistic leaders are driven by these core motivations:
- Craving power and control – Their desire for power over others stems from their need to prop up their fragile self-esteem. Control makes them feel important.
- Need for admiration – They have an extreme need for constant admiration, praise, and ego-stroking from others. This helps them counteract deep-seated insecurities.
- Projecting an image of superiority – They want to be seen as special, brilliant, and superior. Their grandiose posturing is designed to mask inadequacy.
- Exploiting others – They have no qualms about manipulating, using, and exploiting colleagues to bolster themselves. People are just pawns to aggrandize their ego.
In a nutshell, narcissistic leaders’ emotional needs drive their relentless quest for power, status, and glory. Their colleagues are little more than resources to exploit in the service of propping up their grandiose self-image. Understanding these motivations makes their behaviors more comprehensible.
What impact can a narcissistic leader have?
Narcissistic leaders can inflict significant damage on organizations and employees. Potential impacts include:
- Toxic culture – Their behaviors model narcissism, ruthlessness, and duplicity. This filters down and poisons the workplace culture.
- Poor morale – Their exploitation, manipulation, and lack of empathy crater employee morale and motivation.
- High turnover – Employees resign to escape the toxic environment the leader has created.
- Reputation damage – Their unethical, selfish actions can ruin the company’s reputation.
- Innovation stifled – Their hypersensitivity to criticism blocks constructive feedback needed for growth and innovation.
- Flawed decisions – Their impulsiveness, arrogance, and need for acclaim lead to poorly thought out decisions.
- Communication diminished – Their self-absorption and vindictiveness discourage open communication.
In short, narcissistic leaders’ dysfunctions alienate employees, undermine organizational culture, and set the stage for unethical behavior. Their disorder can irreparably damage companies.
What are examples of narcissistic leaders?
Some notorious examples of narcissistic leaders include:
Steve Jobs (Apple)
Steve Jobs exemplified many narcissistic traits like grandiosity, obsession with success, and lack of empathy. He pioneered great innovations at Apple but also exploited colleagues, took credit for others’ work, and engaged in tirades when challenged. His chaotic management style led to high turnover.
Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos)
Holmes founded the company Theranos as a college dropout, claiming she had invented revolutionary blood-testing technology. She was obsessed with fame and power but didn’t have the expertise she touted. Her deception led to the company’s collapse and put patients at risk.
Harvey Weinstein (The Weinstein Company)
The Hollywood producer exploited his power for decades to sexually abuse women and suppress allegations. He surrounded himself with enablers to feed his sense of entitlement and grandiosity. His actions resulted in massive legal reckonings.
Jeffrey Skilling (Enron)
The CEO of Enron helped create a culture of corruption that led to the firm’s shocking collapse. He was preoccupied with success at all costs, exploited legal loopholes, and pressured underlings to engage in fraud to inflate Enron’s earnings.
Donald Trump
The former president exhibits many markers of extreme narcissism like exaggerating achievements, dominating interactions, lacking empathy, and erupting in rage when criticized. His chaotic presidency often stemmed from his fragile ego and impulsiveness.
How can organizations mitigate the damage of narcissistic leaders?
Some tips for organizations dealing with narcissistic leaders include:
- Screen for narcissism in hiring – Use interviews and tests to detect grandiosity and entitlement in candidates.
- Institute oversight checks – Put controls on the leader’s power such as requiring approval for major decisions.
- Empower employees – Foster open communication and boost morale of employees to resist the leader’s manipulations.
- Have leaders undergo coaching – Require coaching to improve listening, empathy, and ethical decision-making.
- Remove them from power – In cases of severe narcissism, firing them may be the only viable option.
While narcissistic leaders can impose real harm, organizations can mitigate the damage through screening, oversight, employee empowerment, enforced coaching, and removal as a last resort. A narcissistic boss shouldn’t be allowed to poison a workplace.
Conclusion
Narcissistic leaders represent a threat to any organization they lead. Their obsessive self-interest, exploitation of others, and lack of ethics can badly damage corporate culture, employee morale, and reputation. Understanding narcissistic leaders’ drives and behaviors allows companies to control the damage through careful screening, oversight procedures, boosting employee agency, and prompt action when necessary. With vigilance, empathy, and courage, organizations can keep narcissism from metastasizing and overcome its toxic effects.