Bad apples in the barrel

Personality Disorders at WorkDr Michael Reddy

HPA Special Report www.hpa-group.com

Bad Applesin the Barrel

http://www.hpa-group.com/

ABOUT HPA

Human Potential Accounting (HPA) is a multi-disciplinary human capital management consultancy , led by its founder, business and occupational psychologist Dr Michael Reddy.

HPA offers diagnostic audit tools, Human Capital Management (HCM) business intelligence, and organisational risk management.

HPA works with organisations to improve and reinforce the effectiveness of their HCM processes and practice.

Best known as founder and former Chairman of ICAS, the psychological services, Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and ‘return to work’ company,

which he ran for 20 years and brought to international status with 17 offices overseas.

Michael is a Chartered Clinical and Occupational Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and Fellow of the RSA.

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Contents

Executive Summary

How To Get the Most Out Of This Paper

Case Study 1 - The Hero CEO

The Two Most Relevant Personality Disorders

Anti-Social Personality Disorder

Case Study 2 - ~Breivik

Case Study 3 - Unacceptable Behaviour

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Case Study 4 - Impression Management

Appendices

References


3

4

5

6

9

10

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15

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ome of the best known and most damaging scandals in the financial services and investment

industries of the past decade, as likewise in examples of high level political exploitation,

morally reprehensible corporate activity and illegal media excess, have been carried out by

individuals within such organisations and institutions recognised in the psychological literature as

personality disorders.

Although well recognised in psychiatry, psychotherapy and counselling settings, Personality

Disorders have attracted little attention in management circles where they are in fact most prevalent

and dangerous; neglected possibly because they are understood as manifestations of mental illness.

This is a fundamental misconception. Mental and physical health is a legitimate concern of Boards

and top management where diagnosis and treatment are best left in the care of professionals.

Personality Disorders however are in no way a matter of mental health but only of behaviour, and

therefore within the legitimate territory of management oversight and intervention.

In terms of percentages it has been suggested that 1% of the United States population have a

personality disorder. It has likewise been suggested that in the business context 3% are likely to

be such, and that in financial services and investing industries proportions are sometimes given as

4%, to rise in some cases well beyond that. There is no reason to suppose that UK figures would

vary much from US statistics. In either case they would add up to a lot of individuals. Robert Hare

(p.4, ‘Snakes and Suits’) argues strongly that the fast pace of life today means that personality

disorders are naturally attracted to business and financial organisations for the excitement they offer,

while recruitment processes can be accelerated against the background of a search for charismatic

leaders.

Such individuals damage the business sometimes fatally, and wherever they are found, they remain

extremely difficult to spot thanks to their exceptional skills in ‘impression management’ - bad apples

with shiny skins.

Bad Apples in the Barrel

S

Executive Summary


How to get the most out of this Paper


he left-hand column of text explains the way in which Personality Disorders (and particularly

Anti-Social and Narcissistic Personality Disorders) are understood and exemplified in

the formal language of the ‘bibles’ of psychiatry and psychology: the Diagnostic and

Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM4 and the most recent, May 2013, DSM4, published

by the American Psychiatric Association); and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-

10), published by the International Labour Office in Geneva, the younger but now recognised as the

official coding system used also in the United States.

These diagnostic criteria are said to ‘reflect a consensus of current formulations of evolving knowledge’

(DSM4), and are acknowledged and exemplified in the West by virtually every practitioner and

academic. A selection of Case Studies and additional expert commentary, set alongside the main

text, exemplify and illustrate the paper, making it come alive for the reader.

T

Note to The Reader: Channel 4’s 90-minute programme on December 13 2013 under the title of

‘Psychopath Night’’ has kickstarted a wave of media interest that shows no sign of abating, and

has already robbed the word psychopath of any agreed meaning among so many commentators.

For the sake of clarity in this text we have limited the use of the term to displays of viciousness

and violence in its most popular and sensational interpretation.

Many texts however make little distinction between ‘psychopath’ and ‘sociopath’, taking them

to be virtually coterminous. We have therefore limited the use of ‘psychopath’ to its violent

connotations (as in the Anti-Social Personality Disorder) and used ‘sociopath’ to exemplify non-

violent manifestations (as in the Narcissistic Personality Disorder).

Case Study 1The Hero CEOThis may be considered as a composite case study. Partly because it could stand for any number of organisations in the financial services, investing, media, corporate and political worlds, and partly because any particular case might be too easily recognised.

Contagion is emblematic of what happens round a ‘charismatic’ leader, a hero CEO to the point that even after he/she has gone the aura sometimes remains. Some of those who reported directly to such a leader often perpetuate his/ her style of thinking and judgement.

These are not born ‘personality disorders’ but remain infected with the same personality disorder dynamic, making it all the more difficult for a new and different kind of leader to escape the legacy of the past and rewrite the future.


Two Personality Disorders Relevant to Business

he following descriptions of

“Personality Disorders” are designed

for the use of clinicians but are graphic

and explicit enough to be equally useful to

Boards and senior management. The same

format is used for all ten Personality Disorders.

In each case a number of indicators are given

among which a smaller selection is said to be

sufficient to establish a probable diagnosis.

Hence the term Diagnostic and Statistical

Manual. It is noteworthy that descriptions

of all ten Personality Disorders occupy only

10 of DSM4’s 358 pages, an inadvertent

indication perhaps that they are barely

considered as genuine examples of mental

ill health compared with the neurotic and

psychotic conditions which form the bulk of

the manual. Generically they are described as:

“An enduring pattern of inner experience and

behaviour that deviates markedly from the

expectations of the individual’s culture in two

of the following four ways: cognition, affectivity,

interpersonal functioning and impulse control.

The enduring pattern is inflexible

and pervasive across a broad range

of personal and social situations.

The enduring pattern leads to clinically significant

distress or impairment in social, occupational,

or other important areas of functioning.”

The ten Personality Disorders recognised by

DSM4 are:

• Paranoid Personality Disorder

• Schizoid Personality Disorder

• Schizotypal Personality Disorder

• Anti-Social Personality Disorder

• Borderline Personality Disorder

• Histrionic Personality Disorder

• Narcissistic Personality Disorder

• Avoidant Personality Disorder

• Dependent Personality Disorder

• Obsessive-Compulsive Personality

Disorder

For purposes of reducing a mass of material to

useful proportions this paper focuses on the two

most damaging personality disorders relevant

to every Board of Directors, and the ones they

are most likely to have been harbouring and

fostering unawares: Anti-Social Personality

Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder.


T

One of the core drivers in the life of a psychopath is the need for excitement, the excitement of conning and manipulating others, the skill above all others in which they excel. A corollary is that such individuals live for the moment, consequently without long term career goals they fail utterly to plan for the future. And when one target wises up there will always be the option to move on smoothly to the next set of willing victims

Robert D. Hare, Ph.D

7

The outstanding contributor to the literature

on psychopaths in business is Robert D. Hare,

Author of ‘Without Conscience’ and creator of the

‘Psychopathy Checklist – Revised’ PCR, a tool

for diagnosing psychopathy. He has for example

commented that “The still relatively new fast-moving

global business world is attractive to such people

where corners can be cut in recruitment processes,

and where their skills in impression management

can dress them in the clothes of the decisive and

charismatic leader everyone wants to bring into the

business.” See Babiak and Hare, “Snakes in Suits”

(Harper, 2006). Three further examples from the

same text will illustrate their flavour and weight.

Commentary

Bad Apples in the Barrel HPA Special Report www.hpa-group.com

Whether we are dealing with an agreed baseline of 1% in the population as a whole, or the likely 3% and up among top management, and especially in the lure of the financial services industry, it is impossible to exaggerate the damage such individuals, however few in numbers, do to the companies they nest in.


The presence of a psychopath in a team will often divide opinion to the point where it seems impossible that the same individual is being considered. The successful psychopath will have “recruited” a coterie of admirers while others who have been excluded from the campaign will often feel uncomfortable without knowing exactly why, or they will see clearly what is happening but feel unable or disinclined to intervene.



Anti-Social Personality Disorder


he term is not ideal because of

connotations of violence in the UK

context; the ICD-10 term ‘asocial’ is

preferable. However, the characteristics of each

system are more or less interchangeable and the

DSM4 list of constituents is used in this paper:

“There is a pervasive pattern of disregard for and

violation of the rights of others occurring since

age 15 years, as indicated by three (or more) of

the following:

1. Failure to conform to social norms with respect

to lawful behaviours as indicated by repeatedly

performing acts that are grounds for arrest;

2. Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying,

use of aliases, or conning others for personal

profit or pleasure;

3. Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead;

4. Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by

repeated physical fights or assaults;

5. Reckless disregard for safety of self or others;

6. Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by

repeated failure to sustain consistent work

behaviour or honour financial obligations;

7. Lack of remorse, by being indifferent of such

behaviours can be diagnosed as such with a high

degree of probability.”

As noted above the probability model used by

DSM4 says that of these seven indicators only

three are needed to establish a likely diagnosis.

T


It should be noted that the issue of sanity

does not arise with Personality Disorders.

In the case of Breivik, the Norwegian killer

of more than a hundred young people on a

holiday island (in conjunction with planned

explosions on the mainland), the Court

correctly ruled against a plea of insanity, on

the grounds that, from his own statements,

Breivik could not be diagnosed as insane

(i.e. psychotic, as meaning out of touch with

reality).

Breivik himself made it perfectly clear that

he was coldly aware of what he was doing

and why, and also that his behaviour was

outside the boundaries of expected social

behaviour.

No. 3 of the list above also has special

importance in dealing with any Personality

Disorder, namely the typical failure to plan

ahead, which is naturally coherent with

a conviction that he or she will be able to

talk their way out of any impasse. Such

individuals are therefore periodically caught,

once those they are dealing with have found

them out. In the simplest terms therefore

we are talking about individuals who have

a fixed way of interacting with colleagues

and clients, although the fact that this is the

only way they know how to behave will not

be obvious given that their speech and style

is likely to be fluent and even captivating.

Personality Disorders have only one way of

thinking and acting. They know no other but

their skill and varied experience in deploying

this fixed style is the first reason why they

are so difficult to detect. They may well be

aware they are lying but because they have

talked themselves out of trouble so many

times they remain unconcerned, even if it

means another lie to cover up the first –

which, more often than not, works perfectly.

Case Study 2Breivik


Individuals predisposed to fraud, deceit, manipulation, and insider trading may be far more numerous than the 10% estimate that has attracted so much attention.

Ronald Schouten, MD, JD

People with psychopathy are very good at reading the minds of their victims. So you can see the cognitive part of empathy as functioning very well, but the fact that they don’t have the appropriate emotional response to someone else’s state of mind [suggests that] the affective part of empathy is not functioning normally.

Prof. Simon Baron-Cohenc

While full-blown psychopaths are not deterred by fear and do not learn from punishment, ‘almost’ psychopaths can be given the message that adverse consequences will follow misconduct.


The only way to deal with a true psychopath is to get him or her out of the organisation is fast as possible.


This may not be as difficult as imagined for the simple reason that, on whatever basis the individual’s behaviour is first challenged, there will almost always be more below the surface which he or she will want to remain hidden - such as clandestine connivance with another employee, false accounting, financial dishonesty elsewhere, tax evasion, etc., etc. It will often be simpler for the individual to bow out, maybe protesting loudly, but relieved to make an exit before more unwanted background emerges.



Case Study 3Unacceptable BehaviourAlan was employed as a ‘consultant’ in a contact centre, dealing with customer enquiries which, due to the delicate nature of the work, required a degree of sensitivity. Alan was a seemingly amiable, if not ingratiating, individual who had been taken on readily because he had a qualification in counselling. One day he was called in by the HR manager who had been alerted to some questionable behaviour with a customer on Alan’s part.

They met in the early afternoon and the HR manager explained the nature of the complaint. Alan leaned forward and sniffed. “Have you been drinking?” he asked. The HR manager was disconcerted and replied truthfully “only orange juice.” By then the initiative had passed to Alan which was all he needed and the interview ended abruptly without any resolution of the issue.

Personality disorder behaviour is powered by a seemingly uncanny ability to reach a weak spot in the other’s armoury. A personality disorder is free from the scruples of normal social interaction and has time to exploit exceptional insight into the other person’s psychological make-up.

In Alan’s case there is no information about his family background. The only known detail is that he joined after seven years with the local police force. This was the only CV content a gullible recruiter felt they needed to know. He was not even asked in what circumstances or why he had left the Force. Alan quietly moved on, as it were, before inevitable action was taken against him.

Footnote

It should be noted that Alan’s amiability was simply his standard modus operandi. Another psychopath of the authors acquaintance used neediness as his SMO. When challenged to return a significant sum of money that he had borrowed under contract to return within 6 months he was still pleading his own needs as an excuse three years later. Once it was his eyes requiring him to pay regular visits to Moorfields hospital, the next time it was his knee that was giving him recurring problems, a third time he was dealing with an (imaginary) intractable hernia, and so on. On the main street of the town where he lived however he was noted for his dapper appearance while each excuse allowed him to postpone repaying the debt for another few weeks or months until he was finally called to book. Such examples may serve to counterbalance an image of psychopaths as typically aggressive. The role can be played from any number of emotional postures.

“A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy

or behaviour), need for admiration, and lack

of empathy, beginning by early adulthood

and present in a variety of contexts, as

indicated by five (or more) of the following:

1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance

(e.g. exaggerates achievements and talents,

expects to be recognised as superior without

commensurate achievements);

2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited

success, power, brilliance, beauty or ideal love;

3. Believes that he or she is ‘special’ and

unique and can only be understood by, or

should associate with, other special or high-

status people (or institutions);

4. Requires excessive admiration;

5. Has a sense of entitlement, i.e.

unreasonable expectations of especially

favourable treatment or automatic compliance

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

with his or her expectations;

6. Is interpersonally exploitive, i.e. takes

advantage of others to achieve his or her own

ends;

7. Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognise or

identify with the feelings and needs of others;

8. Is often envious of others or believes that

others are envious of him or her;

9. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviours or

attitudes.”

Again only five out of nine indicators are

needed to be confident of the diagnosis. Some

will be immediately evident. The “owner” of

a Narcissistic Personality Disorder is quite

frequently spoken of as ‘charismatic’ (a

warning signal if ever there was one) and can

be brilliantly and charmingly fluent when they

first appear on the scene at intake interview.


Following their appointment – possibly to a key position – they

quickly win the admiration of colleagues. The fact that such

individuals lie consistently is a great asset to them, a failing which

will soon be overlooked, forgiven and even excused by fellow

workers who by then have been seduced.

Where they are in positions of power and influence such individuals

will typically collect an inner circle of devotees around them. On

a Board of Directors, members who are uncomfortable with the

style of the resident Personality Disorder will begin to notice that

they have been moved dangerously close to the fringes of the

action, and will be increasingly hesitant to speak their mind for

fear of making matters worse.


Case Study 4Impression ManagementJoyce was a consultant in an IT training business. She fooled one of her business employers for many months while charging exorbitant fees. Bright and bubbly (all fake) she could play the mother hen role, dressed in grunge, with the employer’s staff, who adored her; and the seductive role, attractively dressed, with the trainees - who drooled accordingly.

The master of impression management Joyce quietly plotted to bring down her employer’s business and take the most lucrative part for herself. The stuff of fiction? Not so. Cold hard fact and if the employer had not wised up late in the day he would have gone under.

Personality disorders are superficially plausible, while being skilful at mimicking the empathy they don’t or can’t feel.

Could one feel any sympathy with Joyce? It was the employer’s view later that, “If I had been brought up as she was, with the father she had and still has, I too would have been as keen to prove that I was as good as any boy, and I would have developed the same skills of deception and manipulation; and nourished the same contempt for those who were so easily conned.”

Michael Walton“All executives have the potential to become dysfunctional.”

Dr Michael Walton is a chartered counselling and occupational psychologist.

His focus is on executive (managerial) coaches, with the aim of helping

them understand what they may be dealing with when a client has a

Personality Disorder.

The novelty in Walton’s approach is the division of the 10 Personality

Disorders into three clusters, one of which is cluster B – egoistic and dramatic

– characterised by leaders who often appear dramatic, emotional or erratic,

likely to come over as aggressive, assured, competent, exploitative, and

highly socially skilled. They will tend to adopt a high profile, image and

impression management will be important to them and they are likely to want and look for attention,

recognition and praise, while being interpersonally demanding and emotionally draining.

“The appointment of cluster B types, who, from my experience, feature most prominently and strongly

within the managerial ranks, should come with a health warning!”

“They are also likely to be high achievers and, initially at least, very appealing as work colleagues.”

Other Approacheshile the bulk of this White Paper focuses naturally on the impact of personality disorders in

the workplace as witnessed in the conclusion to Case Study 4 some complimentary and

more sympathetic approaches have emerged elsewhere. Four approaches of this

kind are illustrated below:


W

ind is a Mental Health Charity devoted to diagnosis and treatment for various forms of mental

illness, and has published a booklet devoted to Personality Disorders from which the following

has been excerpted.

“The word ‘personality’ refers to the pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviour that makes each of

us the individuals that we are. Generally speaking, personality doesn’t change very much, but it does

develop as we go through different experiences in life, and as our circumstances change.

“We mature with time, and our thinking, feelings and behaviour

all change depending on circumstances. We are usually flexible

enough to learn from past experiences and to change our behaviour

to cope with life more effectively. If you have a Personality Disorder,

you are likely to find this more difficult. However, with the right help

you can learn to understand other people better, and cope better

with social situations and relationships with other people.”

“Your personality is the core of yourself, and to be told it is

‘disordered’ is very upsetting and undermining.”

“Because your self-esteem is rather fragile”.

“You will tend to act impulsively and recklessly, often without considering the consequences for yourself

or for other people.”


MindM


The Mayo Cliniche Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group based in

Rochester, Minnesota.

Celebrated the world over the Mayo Clinic draws attention to Personality Disorders as part of their

Health Information services. They follow the DSM4 breakdown into three clusters where, similarly to

Michael Walton, Cluster B lists the AntiSocial and Narcissistic Personality Disorders, as below.

Cluster B personality disorders:

• Antisocial Personality Disorder

• Disregard for others

• Persistent lying or stealing

• Recurring difficulties with the law

• Repeatedly violating the rights of others

• Aggressive, often violent behaviour

• Disregard for the safety of self or others

• Narcissistic Personality Disorder

• Fantasising about power, success and attractiveness

• Exaggerating your achievements or talents

• Expecting constant praise and admiration

• Failing to recognise other people’s emotions and feelings

18

T


American Psychiatric Association

n a recent (March 15 2013) issue the American Psychiatric Association (APA) published an

article in Psychiatric News, Volume 48 Number 6 pp 21f, suggesting that:

Disregard for others’ pain in early childhood may predict antisocial behavior up to age 17.

However, whether it predicts antisocial behavior beyond that age is un¬known.

In its concluding discussion the article suggests that such behaviour may possibly lie rather on the

autism spectrum than the anti-social, exactly as does Simon Baron Cohen in his book “The Science

of Evil: on Empathy and Origins of Cruelty”.

“Might it be possible to identify children who are likely to

engage in antisocial behaviour as early as age 2? It may

at first seem unlikely.”

“Researchers who followed approximately 1,000 toddlers

up to age 17 found a strong link between disregard

for others’ pain early in life and later development of

antisocial behavior.”

19

I


ith Channel 4’s 90-minute programme on December 13 2013 ‘psychopath’ could be said to

have slipped into public awareness and common parlance in a new way. The Sunday Times

Magazine was quick to follow suit two days later in Camilla Long’s weekly piece. The www.

bigthink.com site weighed in early in 2014 along with Forbes magazine (2013) and the Harvard Business

Review (January 9). This rapid process in the use of the term ‘psychopath’ has stripped it of any

agreed meaning, in the same way that other lazy words like ‘iconic’ or ‘engagement’ have now lost their

usefulness.

The Channel 4 program itself presents excerpts from ten well-known films with an analytic assessment

by two FBI profilers of the accuracy of the portrayals. Pride of place among these movies goes to Heath

Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight, followed by Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter in

Silence of the Lambs. Also ‘highly rated’ are Gordon Gecko in Wall Street, Matt Damon in The Charming

Mr Ripley, a surgeon in Malice, and the main character in most of the Bond movies.

In addition to the two FBI profilers the two strongest contributors to the program are Robert Hare,

Professor James Fallon from University of California, Irvine and Oxford University Professor David

Dunkley. Professors Fallon’s theory is that it takes three components (like a three-legged stool) to make

a psychopath, (1) at the level of genetic traits; (2) a particular favoured area of brain activity; and (3)

childhood trauma.

A list in order of professions attractive to psychopaths is suggested as (1) bankers, (2) lawyers, (3) media

personnel, (4) salespeople and (5) surgeons. A list of top psychopathic characteristics is given as lacking

empathy and being charming, manipulative, callous, fearless, and grandiose.

Appendix 1

Channel 4’s “Psychopath Night”

W

www.bigthink.com

www.bigthink.com


uestions have been raised about potential institutional bias in DSM processes and other diagnostic

and treatment initiatives. It has been said for example that the inclusion of PTSD in DSM4 in the

mid-80s was partly motivated by the need to include the new diagnostic category of PTSD (Post

Traumatic Stress Disorder) in order to enable returning Vietnam veterans to claim insurance support for

their treatment. Such allegations, valid or groundless, have not been laid to rest.

What is incontrovertible is the storm of protest that has already arisen at the

publication of the new DSM5 5. Health professionals need people to be “ill”.

The question of potential self-interest on the part of clinicians in adding several

new categories of mental illness can hardly be discounted. Commentators

have argued strongly that many categories, old and new, of so-called mental

illness pay too little regard to the contextual nature of much suffering; and that

it helps no one to pathologise the lives of individuals who are by circumstances

beyond their control disadvantaged, underprivileged, vulnerable and powerless

in most of what pertains to their lives. To stigmatise their condition further with

mental health labels may swell the clinician’s caseload, and may bring temporary

palliative relief to the sufferer, but do not come close to the source of the problem.

Somewhat in parallel is the growth of the IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) initiative in

the UK driven initially by Lord Layard, himself a psychiatrist, that has attracted similar comments.

A relevant fictional example could be the case of a 17 year old man, unable to find employment despite

his best efforts, slipping into depression. The IAPT solution to deal with such cases has been to propose

that we need another 10,000 counsellors trained in CBT. Apart from concern that CBT has grown as the

treatment of choice in virtually every form of anxiety and depressive condition, against evidence that other

approaches are equally effective (though less well marketed), and that a number of nurses for example

and other qualified counsellors who are as proficient and experienced as anyone else in dealing with

troubled patients are being disenfranchised. And of course, apart from all this, is the issue of cost. The

money needed to fund IAPT aims could just as easily be put into job search and job revision for the 17-

year old which would at least come closer to dealing with his situation at source.

Appendix 2

DSM Categories

Q


igthink describes itself as a digital knowledge forum, and publishes blogs, articles and videos

from the world’s top thinkers. Most recently (January 2014) it published an article under the

title “Are You a Psychopath?” http://bigthink.com/devil-in-the-data by M.E Thomas known to

be Jamie Lund, a lawyer and self confessed sociopath. She makes two pertinent comments:

“Capitalism is set up to reward those who have no qualms about profiting off the labors of others.”

“The acquisition, retention, and exploitation of power are what most motivate sociopaths. This much I

know.”

She also tries to make the point that it is always useful to have

a psychopath, a hard man, on your team to see you through

those difficult passages where emotion can be left aside in

favour of force. The naive assumption behind this is that such

a psychopath, your teammate, will be acting out of the same

values of team spirit and brotherly love as you, whereas he or

she will always and in every case be thinking first and foremost

of themselves..

Appendix 3

Bigthink

B


orbes, one of the world’s leading business magazines was even earlier on the scene (“The

Disturbing Link Between Psychopathy and Capitalism”, April 2013) offering its pages to Victor

Lipman, recently retired from the corporate world after 25 years with one of America’s largest

life insurance companies. He comments that:

“Unfortunately, certain of these psychopathic qualities – in particular charm, charisma, grandiosity (which

can be mistaken for vision or confidence) and the ability to ‘perform’ convincingly in one-on-one settings

– are also qualities that can help one get ahead in the business world.”

He goes on to report findings from the 2010 Babiak, Hare, Neumann study, concluding that “the study’s

findings were disturbing, bearing out the large amount of anecdotal evidence the researchers had long

been gathering.” The research showed that approximately 3% of those assessed in this management

development program study scored in the psychopath range.

Lipman’s own recommendations to avoid recruiting psychopaths in the first place are:

“Internal succession planning; focus on verified, tangible results; and glean whatever you can about the

moral and ethical character of a candidate” (as first published in Psychology Today.)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/04/25/the-disturbing-link-between-psychopathy-and-

leadership/

Appendix 4

Forbes

F


he Harvard Business Review in its recent HBR Blog Network (January 2014) states of

psychopaths that:

‘their (psychopaths’) chameleon-like qualities mean they often reach top executive positions, especially

in organizations that appreciate impression management, corporate gamesmanship, risk taking,

domination, competitiveness, and assertiveness.”

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/01/is-your-boss-a-psychopath/

If this brief collection from a handful of business, media and print journalists over three short weeks

following Channel 4’s December 13 2013 “Psychopath Night” is anything to go by we can expect a tide

of such commentary over the coming months.

Appendix 5

Harvard Business Review

T

“Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work” 2007, Paul Babiak, Ph.D. & Robert D. Hare Ph.D.

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Mitchell L. Corporate irresponsibility. New Haven: Yale University Press; 2001.

Grey KL, Frieder L, Clark G. Corporate scandals. St Paul: Paragon House; 2005.

Victor Lipman, The Disturbing Link Between Psycopathy and Leadership, 25th April 2013, published by Forbes Magazine.

Camilla Long, Sunday Times Magazine, 15th December 2013.

Kas Thomas, Bigthink, Are You A Sociopath? 5 January 2014

HBR Blog Network, Is Your Boss A Psycopath?, January 7, 2014.

References


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