Understanding Psychopathic Leaders: The Pros and Cons of Psychopathy

Is a psychopath a better leader than a non-psychopath? Are all CEOs psychopathic? What is a psychopath in the first place? In this blog post we  will cover all these and more.

Ok, so what is psychopathy? As per the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), the behaviors associated with psychopathy fall under the mental illness of  Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). 

Here are some of the symptoms:

• Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors, as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest
  
• Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure
  
• Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
  
• Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults
  
• Reckless disregard for the safety of self or others
  
• Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations
  
• Lack of remorse

Sounds scary, right? And that’s not all, studies show that 1% of the population is psychopathic. But don’t worry too much, not all psychopaths are serial killers, actually most of them don’t engage in physical violence.

And guess what are the top 5 jobs most psychopaths aspire to? #1: CEO, #2 Lawyer, #3 Media mogul, #4 Salesperson, #5  Surgeon. 

So what are the chances that your CEO is a psychopath? Well, if you work in a fast-paced corporation there’s a pretty big chance your boss is a psychopath. I’ll tell you more about that in a moment.

But what causes psychopathy, you may ask? Psychopathy is the result of a combination between genetics and the environment. On the genetic side it seems that in psychopaths serotonin doesn’t get reabsorbed properly at neuronal level; and this happens because of a mutation of the MAOA gene that’s also known as the “Warrior Gene”. I’ll spare you the technicalities, bottom line, psychopaths are born psychopathic. 

Now get a child born with the “Warrior Gene” and have them raised by a dysfunctional family where abuse is the norm and you’ll end up with a monster.

Can psychopathy be cured? No it can’t. Can it be kept under control? Yes, to some extent but only if the parents do a good job at being parents.

Ok, so why do psychopaths aspire to leadership roles? The answer is simple, their hardwiring makes them strongly attracted to roles that provide them with status, power over people and financial gain. This attraction toward a position of power is more than what most people experience, they feel it as an obsession, they get tunnel vision and fight until they get there regardless of the consequences.

And how do psychopaths get to climb the hierarchical ladder? Well, people allow them to do that, and sometimes they even push the psychopaths forward.  You see, psychopaths are very confident, charismatic and master communicators. And that’s exactly what a struggling business seems to need: someone who gives you a strong feeling that they know what they are doing, someone who can look at the facts unclouded by emotion and make the call when no one else would.

But are psychopathic CEOs really the solution to fixing a struggling business? Let’s find out. Let’s go over the strengths and weaknesses of a psychopathic CEO.

We’ll start with the strengths:

• Charisma
• Self-confidence
• Great communication skills
• Great presentation skills
• Ability to influence people
• Ability to make decisions under pressure
• Laser-focus and goal obsession
• Ability to think out of the box

If we were to stop here, most of you who are business owners would say: “Wow, that sounds great, what else could you want?”.  But don’t get overly excited, let’s go over their weaknesses as well:

• A grandiose sense of self 
• Self-centered impulsivity
• Inability to take responsibility for their mistakes
• Recklessness and poor long-term vision
• Lack of empathy for their team
• Lack of remorse

What about now? Does it still sound like the type of person you would hire as a CEO? Maybe, maybe not…

A psychopathic CEO can both take a business to the next level and set it on fire; their success is tied more to chance than anything else. And they’ll only serve a goal as long as they get something out of it.

Ok, so how many CEOs are psychopathic? Well, it’s hard to say. Most psychopaths go unnoticed in large and chaotic corporations. Keep this in mind: an unstable, ever-changing, high turnover environment is the ideal place for a psychopath, as they can pursue their selfish goals unbothered by inquisitive employees. On the other hand, a well functioning, highly regulated, stable work environment would quickly expose them.

Some studies show that psychopathy might be a mental illness that’s on a spectrum. This means that some psychopathic attributes may be dialed up or down in different individuals. This would mean that some psychopaths, if the dials are at the right place, might actually do a good job as a CEO. Here’s what I’m referring to: let’s say we are dealing with a psychopath who has a low predisposition for self-centered, impulsive behavior, and a high level of extraversion and resilience to stress – this person might actually be a good fit for the CEO role.

Business owners, never rush when picking the CEO for your business. Remember that the charismatic, self-confident candidate that stood out from the crowd might actually be the worst person you could pick for that role. So analyze each candidate carefully, and look beyond the charm.