An article in Harvard Business Review says that narcissists make poor leaders. I’d agree with that. Then the article claims that through mentorship, companies can transform high-achievers with narcissistic traits into quality leaders. What do you think? Is it possible? Read:
Narcissism: The difference between high achievers and leaders, on blogs.HBR.org.
Link supplied by a Lovefraud reader.
Donna, thank you for posting this interesting article. It’s almost an oxymoron to note that narcissists make poor leaders, but can be “mentored” into leaders of quality.
I disagree that narcissists can be re-educated. If they want to un-learn and re-educate themselves, they may have the ability to do this, but the work involved would be hard, harsh, and lengthy – as in, years-lengthy.
I’ll have to pass this article along to a friend who has a current boss who is an absolute malignant narcissist. I don’t see how he will maintain his position, because he has deliberately harmed so many, many people and is unable to keep up with his lies. He’s not all that clever, he was just “charming” at the outset, and his mask has fallen too many times to ignore the ghastly thing behind that mask.
Again, thank you for the interesting article.
Brightest blessings
Yes I have to agree with Truth. Re educating narcissists is a contradiction in terms. How would organisations measure success? Oh yeh, he/she is so much more compassionate so much less insecure.
Having experienced the “management” skills of these people, I am sceptical. Although I do work in the public sector where the reputation for dealing with crap management is poor to non existent.
People lie to get jobs in senior management. Fact. I have recently had to find myself another job as the school was closed by the local authority…..One of the senior leaders told me I might have to lie in order to make sure I secured further employment. I rest my case.
These people are employed because they make the right noises, don’t appear to rock the boat and brown nose their superiors. Sheesh, they’re narcissists! There’s no hope as far as I’m concerned.
Interesting article, Donna. Wonder if the person who wrote it is a narcissist?
Strongawoman, I cannot count the number of times that I’ve heard even the most trustworthy people say, “Sometimes, you have to lie to get anywhere,” with regard to any assistance, any position, anything…..
I’m at a point where I’m facing homelessness with my son. There are no resources or agencies that can “assist” us, other than the homeless shelter. If I am truthful about being a homeowner (even though the property is in foreclosure), I am not eligible for any type of assistance. If I am dishonest about my “assets,” then I’ll be as much of a liar as anyone else. This is a personal quandary that I cannot resolve, either way. On one hand, we’re in desperate need. On the other hand, even though we’re in desperate need, we don’t “qualify” if I am truthful. WTF?!?!
No wonder our society is breeding more and more narcissists and spaths. That line in the movie, “Wall Street,” has become a reality: greed is good.
Oy-vey
Just had a look at a book that the author of this article has written. I quote:
“To perform their best in precisely such an atmosphere of multiple, ill-defined and ongoing threats to the enterprise’s survival, a leader must possess a highly unusual set of attributes that often run counter to natural, human behaviour.”
Hmm, wonder what “attributes” they could be?
Yeh Truthy,
That is a massive quandary. You are talking desperate times requiring desperate measures, however. I suppose it poses the question, when is it ok to lie?
To protect youself and your son what else can you do? The only thing I would worry about is if they found out you had a property, even though it’s in foreclosure. Would you then be in breach of your agreement and be back to square 1?
Strongawoman, LOL!!! There was a self-proclaimed sociopath that wrote an article that was posted on this site a long while back. This person, whether they were truly a socipath, or not, extolled the “attributes” of sociopaths as being a vital part of the human experience.
Of course, this article was extremely triggering for many readers, and the responses varied from righteous indignation to hilarity.
What is interesting is that, on this site (and, others), most posts can be interpreted, over time, as manipulations and so forth, and readers eventually just tune them out until they disappear in search of easier prey. But, for me, Real Life situations cause more confusion about a person’s intentions than Online Life.
And, the fact that the article even suggests that there’s some way to “fix” what’s broken through outside intervention is absurd. A narcissist can fix what ails them, absolutely, but the chances of that are very, very, very slim. Nobody, narcissist or otherwise, will ever make lifelong changes unless they want to do it, themselves. Period. Even intervention in alcoholic families doesn’t typically work because the alcoholic is being pressured into engagin in healing. It’s not coming from a desire to stop the insanity, but a demand that they see and hear the pain and anguish of their loved ones and, because of this, they’ll heal themselves. It just isn’t all that successful.
Narcissism intervention? ROTFLMAO!!! Uh……..no.
Strongawoman, we must have posted over one another. That’s the thing….I’ve heard many people actually say those words, “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” Is it okay to lie? I have never believed that it was okay. But, it must be “okay” to tell someone that they look nice in an outfit that is clearly 4 sizes too small for them and wholly unsuited for their frame to avoid hurting their feelings, right? Is this where it gets muddy, or is the whole issue of lies vs. truth a muddy stream?
I just don’t know, today. I only know that the colleague and his g/f have done a horrible number on my son and myself, and I don’t know how to continue coping with this situation and sort out a better one.
Oxy has a good outlook on whether complimenting someone to not hurt their feelings constitutes a lie. But she’s not here. Hope she’s recovering….I know you’ve asked Truth.
Personally, no it’s not the same IMHO. You tell someone they look nice even though they don’t because, fundamentally you don’t want to hurt them. Hmm, the spath, interestingly, thought it was never ok to lie even in the complimenting situ. But that’s another story ……
The problem with Narcissists, in general, is that they are always driven soley by self-interest. The author is spot on, as far as that goes, and he asserts that by appealing to the N’s self-interest, a mentor can turn him into a successful leader, well, maybe for a while. Just wait til it comes down to brass tacks. The N’s self-interest will always rear it’s ugly head, when push comes to shove.
I don’t have to read the article to know a narcissist can’t be turned into a good leader… Good leaders know how to not always lead, how to coax natural followers into taking initiative (and that’s not by appearing above them), etc… Good leaders must be very good in switching roles in order to get others to work in team for the best interest of the people of the team, not him or herself.
The narcissism the author seems to talk about is not imo the NPD one. He seems to think of egocentrists or something. It’s like the thinks that with a good work coach they can get over the narcissism. He makes it sound easy. He therefore doesn’t recognize how stuck narcissists are in their ego-shit