Is Your Boss A Psychopath?

Philosophy Forums Psychology and Mind
1

I saw a short TV program on psychopathic bosses and thought it may be of interest to some people here. The program provides some insights into the physical brain structures/chemicals and the physical inability for these people to empathise or understand the pain they cause as they charge to the top of their corporate ladders.

You can download the 15 minute program by going to abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1360571.htm (it may be a bit long for people not on DSL) so I’ve provided a slightly condensed version of the transcript here.

The program started with six (simplified) questions:

  1. Does your boss come across as smooth, polished and charming?
  2. Has your boss ever taken credit for work you or someone else has done?
  3. Is your boss prepared to do whatever it takes to get what they want - regardless of the cost to other people?
  4. Does your boss enjoy being feared by you?
  5. Is your boss opportunistic, ruthless…hating to lose and playing to win?
  6. Does your boss consider people they’ve outsmarted as dumb or stupid?

If your boss scored 5 out of 6 or more, you could be working with a workplace psychopath.

The Transcript. (slightly condensed – summary in blue)

Narration: It begins as a phone call - and then a meeting - usually late at night. A corporation has a problem and they need Dr John Clarke’s help. They need a psychopath- buster.
Dr John Clarke: The common misconception with psychopaths is that they’re all violent extreme kind of criminals. The majority of them are living and working around us in jobs psychologically destroying the people that they work with.

Narration: There’s a growing realisation psychopaths are thriving in today’s workplace. According to the textbooks, every large company has them. … Now the figures are that 0.5% of women are psychopaths, and 2% are men. But who are they? What makes them tick? And how do you avoid being the next victim of the workplace psychopath.

Psychologist John Clarke started out profiling criminal psychopaths, but four years ago, he began to realise there was a much bigger problem.

Dr John Clarke: I was giving a lecture on criminal psychopaths and someone came down after that lecture and said that their boss had the same characteristics as what I’d just described for a criminal one.

Narration: “Annette” knows just what he’s talking about. Like most victims we contacted, she would only tell her story anonymously. She was a confident, career minded public servant when she first met her new boss.

Annette: I got a shock when he took me into his office and shut the door - he just exploded. It was sort of like well what do we want you for. And then when he let me out again it was all smiles.

Dr John Clarke: There are 20 characteristics to define a psychopath. Really the fundamental factor is an absolute lack of remorse or guilt for their behaviour, pathological lying, manipulative, callous, egotistical, very kind of self centred individual, glib and superficial charm

Dr John Clarke: They steal other people’s work. They spread rumours about people, character assassination. A range of different strategies they will use to move up through the company.

David Williamson: They are worrying. I mean, if you strike one you may not realise it for quite a while until they do some devious act that stabs you in the back and can quite psychologically crush you.

Narration: Annette’s boss was typical - charming his superiors and acolytes, while isolating and undermining his victims.

Annette: I wasn’t allowed to have a phone when I was working, you know, my phone calls were monitored just this constant wearing down and harassment and you know, it was just awful.

Narration: By the time she complained, she’d been so discredited behind her back, no one would support her.

Annette: They didn’t believe me. They’re going, “He’s such a funny guy, he’s so nice”. In the end I had to go in and, and see him. And I was just crying my eyes out and I was just tears running down my face. And he walked me out through the chairs, through the desks, out through the long way through the office in case anyone had missed the spectacle of me just breaking down. I was devastated. I was just broken.

Narration: But how can someone act in such a seemingly inhuman way?

The truth is, psychopaths are fundamentally different to the rest of us. Research is showing they’re deficient in a crucial skill that evolved to ensure we don’t abandon our friends and family - empathy.

Dr John Clarke: Empathy really is the ability to feel what another person is feeling. It’s very very important in terms of survival of the human species because if nobody really cared or understood what other people were feeling it would just cause breakdown of society.

Narration: Empathy is not just an abstract idea… it’s something you can measure physiologically.

Narration: Psychopaths generally don’t react. This lack of emotional response extends deep into the brain. When most of us see another persons distress, our emotional centre, the limbic system, is aroused. We feel a little of what others are feeling.

But a 2001 US study revealed the psychopath has very little limbic system response to emotional information.

John Clarke: And that’s what allows them to manipulate and control other people because they’re able to do that on a very rational logical level but at the same time they don’t feel the emotion or empathy for the other person.

Narration: No one knows how much of this deficit is genetic, and how much shaped by childhood. But by the time they are adults, psychopaths aren’t simply uncaring. They are physically incapable of feeling other people’s pain.

Narration: But without a brain scan, how do we spot a psychopath before its too late? One answer seems to be; look up.

John Clarke suspects corporations today aren’t just failing to screen for psychopaths, they’re unwittingly selecting them.

Dr John Clarke: You see this advertisement here. “An ability to do whatever it takes to meet a deadline”. So that would appeal to a psychopath because they are prepared to do whatever it takes whatever the cost. If we look at this one - “The opportunities are endless you just need to know how to win it” - well they know how to win everything pretty much.

David Williamson: They present very confidently. They are full of self-esteem. They have no doubts; no hesitations and so interviewing panels often find them very attractive. That’s what many corporations see as being a good executive.

Narration: But some corporations are now realising they have a problem. That’s why they call secretly on criminal profiler, John Clarke.

Dr John Clarke: The companies don’t like to admit they have a psychopath and so the first meeting, it’s often on a Friday night or late at night after the employees have gone home.

Narration: Issues range from fraud, to broken promises, to losing staff.

Executive: I just can’t seem to keep staff and it’s all coming from his section.

Dr John Clarke: The first thing I do is really get an assessment from the people working below, at the same level and above the individual. And so if there are huge discrepancies in opinion that’s reason to start delving deeper.

Now for the bad news.
Dr John Clarke: It’s almost impossible to rehabilitate the psychopath. In fact, there are studies in the United States, which suggest that rehabilitation in fact makes them worse because it teaches them new social skills they can use to manipulate the people around them more effectively.

Narration: Once identified, there are strategies to manage the psychopath or move them on.

But what if you’re the victim, and the corporation backs your boss? Stay too long, and you risk a severe psychological breakdown. That’s what happened to Annette.

Narration: Far from getting their comeuppance, in these days of short term goals and high staff turnover, psychopaths often rise to the top. In making this story, we spoke to many victims, none who could be identified for fear of defamation or worse - all devastated - all with a similar message.

Dr John Clarke: I want people to be aware that they’re not going crazy. It’s the workplace psychopath that’s the problem, not them.

David Williamson: That’s not to say that every manager is like that. But it’s that one out of ten that has the potential to really wreck a company, wreck the coherence of a company and wreck lives.

2

most people above 30 are psychos. they weren’t determind about things in their 20s. later when they are determind, they get psychopathic to all sorts of degrees. the reason is: you need psychopathy to exchange for determination

3

I think “vortical’s existential crisis” speaks for itself when it comes to my boss!

4

v, there’s a difference between a bitch and a psycho

5

As someone who actually works with psychopaths, let’s please not get carried away. I haven’t read the entire piece above (don’t need to, to say this), but let me stress that psychopaths are a relatively rare animal (thankfully). However, NARCISSISTS, who also lack empathy, are becoming far more common, IMNSHO. We all have SOME level of narcissism, but TRUE, DIAGNOSABLE narcissists are something to behold (and avoid). I think many bosses, co-workers, etc. are “borderline” narcissists and MAYBE “borderline” “psychopaths.” In fact, the majority of criminals have anti-social personality disorder, while only about 1/4 of them (or less) are actual psychopaths. Just a few random thoughts on this Saturday morning…

6

just a quick aside…

if dorothy followed the yellow brick road, did anthony perkins follow the psychopath?

-Imp

7

This guy says its more than 1 in 50 which is not that rare… particularly considering most of them push their way to the top of positions of power.

No doubt there’s definition issues here because people dont fall into nice clean-cut categories like “psychopath” and “narcissist” etc. But regardless of the definition, there seems to be a lot of people who are arse holes because of their wiring and not just because they are simply selfish and inconsiderate.

:smiley: You’re the main reason I thought I should post this piece, Vortical. I didn’t want to infer it was for anyone in particular… but now you have owned up…:smiley:

8

I’m imagining Imp tapping his microphone…

"Hello? Is this thing on? Can you hear me in the back?

I’m here all week folks…don’t forget to tip your waitress…"

9

That’s why I wrote “relatively rare.” When I think of more common disorders (e.g., depression), I think in double digits (sometimes really high up there), since I believe almost EVERYONE has some “disorder” or “neurosis”–makes us human. So to me, ~3% (rate for anti-social PD in men) is relatively rare. It’s my warped matter of perspective. But when you wrote the 2 in 50 stat, it hit me how high that # really is, especially when you consider how many of them DO end up as (higher up) suits.

But narcissits are more common, and many (most?) of them cannot empathize either and are so driven to keep their underlying/unconscious insecurities below the surface (repressed), that they “need” to put others down and make their lives miserable (especially when the “narcissistic rage” kicks in…). But yeah, as you mentioned, regardless of diagnosis, there are many assholes and we are essentially rewarding them for it (as I keep mentioning, as soon as Trump is not seen as a “hero,” I’ll believe there is hope…as soon as scumbags who rip off retirees and other people of millions of dollars and spend more than a few months in a country club pen, I’ll believe there is hope (life sentences for them would be a start, or better yet, they must spend the rest of their lives in servitude to those they fucked over…)).

As for their “wiring,” that’s always the tricky thing. We only see their wiring AFTERWARDS, so we don’t know if they were born like that, or if years of being a certain way (e.g., selfish and cruel) makes certain parts of the brain inactive and thus they now show no or very limited activity in certain parts of the brain…

10

Yes, I’m sure its both extremes (nature and nurture) and every combination in between but another thing the program brought up was that people who dont have a limbic response (when shown sad pictures etc) often use any empathy training to THEIR advantage and not to get on better in society.

What do you think the rate of fully-blown psychopaths on ILP is? I’d guess twice that of the outside world :smiley:

11

Yeah, that is the only reason I advocate proper diagnostic classification: TREATMENT. If we KNOW certain people will not benefit from treatment or will use it to their advantage (against society), e.g., psychopaths who go to treatment and get even MORE manipulative and cunning b/c they learn the more “acceptable” or “expected” responses and thus learn to fake them, then we need to either find better treatments or find an alternative (e.g., death penalties, life imprisonment…). Of course I’m talking only about psychopaths/anti-social PDs here.

As for psychopaths on ILP, that’s a good question. NARCISSISTS are way up there, and BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDERS might be even higher. I know, I know…more labels…I really don’t usually use such labels, except when teaching. For example, when I write a report, I find it far more useful to explain how certain traits help or hinder a person in their situation–the situation I’m testing them for, whether it’s parenting assessments or insurance purposes or treatment etc. In fact, I’ll probably write a thread about that very soon…

12

Awe…I’m flattered, yeah, she’s pretty nuts! :astonished:

13

How about just making it legal to kill your boss if you find out he/she is a psychopath? Open season on psychopaths! Sorry, I’m a weiner. :laughing:

14

Re: Boss/Psycho…

Howdy pardners…

My boss is definately a psycho, calls himself ‘yılanın başı’ - the snake’s head - a term of total control in turkish. Which is funny - he’s the head of the English-teaching dept. but his english is atrocious, and according to his old students his teaching method involved reading from his notes to the class, and telling them to shut up frequently. Leads by example obviously. [he smarmed the Dean/outraged the old middle-men co-ordinators into quitting then finessed a bunch of his old cronie ex-students into their place, and pretty much holds the faculty in an iron fist of academic terror - all within two years… functional psychpathy seems to be the way to go…]

Anyway - from the wording of your question

“Is your Boss a psychopath…?”

And:

  • Perhaps we are just watching a slow evolution of the typical alpha persona here…?

These psycho/narcissist boss types, go home, bang their equally neurotic spouses/mistresses - produce young - send them to the best schools, frequently whisper in their children’s ears “You’re the best - fuck the rest”… Producing a new generation of good little narcissistic soldier-drones - take over the Earth…

“The majority is always sane” they say - and the mad are rapidly taking over the planet it would seem… Forget bosses - what about our beloved leaders Blaire and Bush…?

15

I generally agree but have noticed two major things that somewhat counteract this. First, its not as bad as it was in the mid/late 80’s when I first got into business. It seems to come in fashion cycles.

Secondly, the Peter Principle kicks in and stops a lot of them in their tracks. The Peter Principle states that people get promoted each time they do a good job and stop getting promoted as soon as their performance wains. Hence large businesses are eventually left with bad performers clogging up leadership postions.

So my point is that many/most of these psychopathic types are not as good as they think and therefore get jammed somewhere in the middle of the corporation. As the program above states, it then becomes a legal/security issure as to how to get rid of them.

16

Ahh - I’m in the wrong country, the way the Turkish system is set up, esp. the government sector (a guarenteed job for life once you get in, no chance of being fired - though you can get moved sideways) the scum can/does rise to the top, as there is no merit system here. It’s all about who you know, and how much you can bribe or smarm them. As is to be expected corruption and embezzlement ‘hortumluk’ (lit: ‘to suck through a hose’) are rife - a few years ago, in the time of Çiller (first Turk woman priminister), there was a huge furore after an accident, in the car were found a minister, a mafia godfather, a prostitute and a big bunch of guns in the boot…

But - say you have two people: one who is good at his job, and one who is good at his job AND has (funtional) psychopathic tendencies - the latter would still have an advantage… no…?

17

Theoretically, the psychopath will have inital advantages, then later the bill will arrive. It’s a bit of a hare and tortoise senario… but with a very destructive hare.

There are two main competencies in business: technical (the skills needed for the job) and interpersonal (the ability to work with people, communication skills, teamwork etc)

On the bottom rungs a person spends 90% of their time simply doing their job (technical skills) and about 10% working with other people (communicating, working in teams etc). In middle management, the balance changes to around 50/50. In top management, because they spend at least 90% of their time using people skills (getting others to do the jobs they used to do) and less than 10% actually using their old technical skills themselves, they need to be very good at working with people.

This is where pathological individuals come undone. The years of riding rough shot over subordinates eventually begins to take effect. The tragedy is not that it takes so long for them to get their comeuppance, but that so many people have to suffer along the way.

18

Agreed.

So, the moral of the story…?

“Never marry anyone who’s been stuck in middle-management for longer than usual…?”

19

LOL… :smiley: No the moral of the story is to get the fuck out as quickly as possible and DON’T LOOK BACK!

(Then you can start your campaign of harrassment from outside by phoning the big boss – while pretending to be clients and partners – to say how unhappy you are with him. :evilfun:)