Bosses and Psychopaths

Bad Bosses and Peusdo-Psychopaths

Callous Leadership – the leader and at least some followers are uncaring or unkind. Ignored or discounted are the needs, wants, and wishes of most members of the group or organization, especially subordinates (p. 43). -- Barbara Kellerman, Harvard Business

Let me state the obvious. We need more wise and compassionate leaders. My recent experience with the XXXXXX organization has taught me a great deal about injurious, callous leaders, in fact, more than I ever wanted to know. From my experience, I have come to believe there are seven deadly leadership sins. The principal sin, and possibly the father of all leadership inadequacies, is arrogance. Arrogance can be described as an absurdly optimistic and inaccurate belief about one’s value in the scheme of things. Arrogance begets the second deadly sin, a sense of entitlement. Psychopathic, narcissistic and other personality disordered leaders harbor both of these annoying leadership sins. These "leaders" soon lose (assuming they ever had it) all appreciable connection with their employees. I believe we might reasonably call the root of that particular leadership evil - egocentric, self-interest. When a "leader" reaches this point he or she is no longer communicating with, and remember communication requires listening and hearing, the folks two or three rungs down the ladder. This leader’s priorities do not align with his or her employees' best interest.

Indifference is leadership sin number four. A leader who does not hear and does not listen becomes indifferent. It is difficult to be concerned about individuals who are, as far as one is concerned, a faceless, easily expendable commodity. The troops are perceived as no more than a means to an end. They are a box of copy paper, a fax machine, a computer or the coffee maker in the break room. Employees must be maintained, because they serve an essential function. However, there are many Mr. Coffee machines out there if one breaks.

Frequently, this hypothetical boss type surrounds himself with pseudo-psychopathic henchmen. Since bona fide, high functioning psychopaths (those not in prison) are less than one percent of the population, most henchmen are only pseudo-psychopaths. They may have the ambition, but not the natural ability to meet the full criteria. One must lower one's standards at times. These collaborators are probably even more loathsome than the "boss" they serve. The PP (pseudo-psychopath) will have the "leader's" ear and whatever the PP reports to her will be self-serving and presented on a silver platter of flattery and unflagging concurrence. This leadership sin can be termed - abdication of moral responsibility. This leader is no longer making wise decisions based on reliable, objective data - his data is filtered and distorted by the PP. I recently heard a PP say, with absolute earnestness, "I don't have time for that. My time is precious." I never have a Taser when I need one. A leader cannot excuse this serious error in judgment by saying, "I did not know." It is his responsibility to be thoroughly familiar with his senior staff - she should know.

Number six is another form of abdicating responsibility. A good leader is an advocate for his or her subordinates. Unfortunately, a compromised leader can become a force for punitive measures rather than a catalyst for growth. Her mindset can gradually change to an "us against them" philosophy. I call this phenomenon "corner office paranoia." When this sets in information from employees is considered highly suspect and is unlikely to make a difference, even when delivered directly to the leader.

Number seven is probably the most disheartening leadership sin - duplicitous behavior. This leader may give inspiring, poignant speeches about 'our wonderful employees' and their inestimatable value to the organization while diminishing and humiliating them on an individual basis. Shocked ears may hear, "They are all out to shaft me. You can't trust any of them."

Sadly, there are usually moral, ethical staff members who could speak up and do not. These individuals, for whatever reasons, probably their pension and their house, do not say, "By the way boss, you have a psychopath working here who is frightening your employees and increasing the likelihood that attorneys will descend on us. Have a great day, sir." These nice folks will talk in whispers among themselves, but they will not tell the boss what he or she desperately needs to hear. In all fairness to the meek at heart, psychopaths are very good at what they do (intimidate and manipulate) and the boss may have passed the point of diminishing return.

We, the gainfully employed, must take some responsibility for abysmally poor bosses. The leaders I have known, who fit this profile, reigned in their positions for many years - and prospered. Psychopaths don't last quite as long; after awhile they tend to shoot themselves in their polished Gucci designer shoe. I know you have read this before, nonetheless it is as accurate today, maybe more so, than when Edmund Burke said it, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men (and women) do nothing." Speaking for myself, I am damn tired of doing nothing.

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