CEOs and Narcissism

Does a CEO have to be a Narcissist? The answer to this question is part of an ongoing debate among scholars. There are two schools of thought. The first is that narcissism drives the leader to reach for significant achievements. For example, Maccoby¹ proposed that a leader can be characterized as both productive and narcissistic. This person would have excellent skills (i.e. "strategic intelligence...[meaning] foresight, systems thinking, visioning, motivating and partnering") along with a set of negative behaviors that are oriented toward personal gain. Maccoby identified Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, and others as part of the productive narcissistic group. 

The alternative school of thinking is that narcissism is too negative and overpowering for the individual to be anything but "dangerous." Some believe that since narcissistic behaviors emanate from the subconscious, it is difficult for the individual to control.² Therefore, the narcissistic leader is so personalized in his or her focus, with such an array of negative behaviors, that he or she finds it difficult to break away from the pattern. This means that as the leader's narcissism level increases, it can have increasingly negative consequences for the business and its members.

Narcissism is a category of personality disorder found in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM)³. The DSM defines narcissism as a set of behaviors that are foundational to the individual's functioning. When researchers connected some leader behaviors to narcissism, they were not identifying them among those with the personality disorder. While observations showed degrees of the disorder, few reach the definition of pathological. Therefore, some narcissism can be expected in all of us (i.e. it is normal).⁴

 

The important question then becomes: How behaviorally dominant is a leader's narcissism? Research shows that senior leaders score higher on the narcissistic scale than the general population⁵. Is this a cause for alarm? That depends on the leader, his/her awareness of these tendencies, along with the strength and willingness to squelch or restrict the more taxing behaviors. From Maccoby's perspective, it also depends on the strength of the leader's skills as a counterbalance of the negatives of narcissism.¹

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory was developed to measure this so-called healthy narcissism. The measure identifies the following set of narcissistic behaviors: "Authority, superiority, exhibitionism, entitlement, vanity, exploitativeness and self-sufficiency."⁶ Here are some examples of how these behaviors might be revealed in practice when a leader is at a higher level of narcissism: ^3&6&7

·      An expectation that followers will provide undivided attention and accolades. The relationship can also reach symbiotic proportions whereby the leader and follower take turns showering each other with compliments and support. A leader may also alternate between offering support and withdrawal.

·      The leader operates with an air of superiority and independence. That is, he or she holds the belief, "I can do everything better." Criticism is deflected. 

·      The narcissistic leader likes to look in the mirror. When he or she looks, there is an image of a perfect leader with excellent skills and capabilities. 

·      The belief in his or her contribution to a success is not always supported by facts. This means the leader takes personal credit for successes and redirects blame when things go wrong (also known as a fundamental attribution error).⁸

 

·      The narcissistic leader can be overpowering in his or her exhibition of confidence. This can be very attractive to those surrounding the leader. It is common to be awed by the narcissistic leader at first but eventually this turns to disfavor. 

Even if the leader is considered a productive narcissist, there are consequences for the business. For example, the leader narcissist can be so deluded by his or her story that the possibility for failure is not given due attention. This belief can encourage excessive risk taking. There was evidence of risky actions from many of the CEOs who testified to Congress after the 2008 financial crisis.⁹

 

In addition to the organizational consequences, I believe the greatest impact is on workers. In a previous blog, I discussed the relationship that leaders have with workers, and how important it is for the leader to be as equal in their treatment of workers as possible. That is, if a leader creates an in-group of favored followers, he or she erects barriers for those in the out-group. Simultaneously, the in-group followers become trapped in a tug-and-pull relationship with the leader, and, to stay “inside,” must feed the narcissistic leader with ongoing attention as demanded. Outsiders, on the other hand, are “voted off the island” and find it nearly impossible to return.

Research suggests that greater levels of narcissism exist among senior leaders with some exceptions (e.g. Oprah Winfrey).⁵ If this is true, then what must organizations do to curb the negatives and capture the positives (like the drive to succeed)? There are several governance approaches that can be considered (subject for a future blog entry). 

Therefore, expect senior leaders to be higher on the narcissistic curve. Those in the organization responsible for governance will need to identify measures to capture the positive and neutralize the negative. Followers also need to execute a certain set of strategies when dealing with a narcissistic leader. 

Feel free to make comments.

References

¹ Maccoby, M. (2003). The Productive Narcissist:  The Promise and Peril of Visionary Leadership. New York, NY: Broadway Books. For a discussion of strategic intelligence, see pages 146-200.

² Kets de Vries, M. (2004). Organizations on the Couch: A Clinical Perspective on Organizational Dynamics [Electronic Version from Elsevier]. European Management Journal, 22(2), 183-200.

³ Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) (1980). 3rd edition. The American Psychiatric Association. The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (most popular current instrument to measure normal or sub-clinical narcissism is based on the DSM III. Current version of the manual is DSM IV. The DSM V is to be published next year.

4 Kohut, H., & Wolf, E.S. (1986). The Disorders of the Self and Their Treatment: An Outline. In A.P. Morrison (Ed.), Essential Papers on Narcissism (pp. 175 - 196). New York, New York: New York University Press.

5 Arvisais, M.A. (2007). Narcissism as a Trait of Full-Range Leadership: A Historiometric Investigation. Unpublished manuscript, Ann Harbor.

6 Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (1988). A Principal-Components analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and further evidence of its Construct Validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(5), 890-902. For a complete review of the definitions for each behavior, review this paper.

                               

7 Deluga, R.J. (1997). Relationship among American Presidential Charismatic Leadership, Narcissism, and Rated Performance. Leadership Quarterly, 8(1), 49-65.

⁸ Robbins, S., & Judge, T. (2011). Organizational Behavior (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

9 Arvisais, M.A. (2009). The Role of Leader Narcissism in the 2008 Financial Crisis, The Journal of Business Leadership, 17.