Narcissistic leadership is the concept of being under a leader that has characteristics of narcissism.
Narcissism
Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...
is most often described as unhealthy and destructive. It has been described as "driven by unyielding arrogance, self-absorption, and a personal
egotistic
"Egotistic" ( Korean: 너나 해) is a song by South Korean girl group Mamamoo. It was released on July 16, 2018 as the second single from the group's seventh extended play '' Red Moon'' (2018). An upbeat pop song with Latin influences, "Egotisti ...
need for
power
Power may refer to:
Common meanings
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power, a type of energy
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
Math ...
and
admiration". Narcissists initially emerge as leaders, especially in groups of strangers, but their leadership appeal declines over time as group members become more familiar with them, leading to a fade in their perception due to leadership behaviors.
Narcissism and groups
A study published in the journal ''Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin'' suggests that when a group is without a leader, a narcissist is likely to take charge. Researchers have found that people who score high in narcissism tend to take control of leaderless groups.
Freud
Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in t ...
considered "the ''narcissistic'' type... especially suited to act as a support for others, to take on the role of leaders and to... impress others as being 'personalities'.": one reason may be that "another person's narcissism has a great attraction for those who have renounced part of their own... as if we envied them for maintaining a blissful state of mind—an unassailable libidinal position which we ourselves have since abandoned."
According to the book ''Narcissism: Behind the Mask'', there are four basic types of leader with narcissists most commonly in type 3 although they may be in type 1:
# authoritarian with task oriented decision making
# democratic with task oriented decision making
# authoritarian with emotional decision making
# democratic with emotional decision making
Michael Maccoby stated that "psychoanalysts don't usually get close enough to narcissistic leaders, especially in the workplace, to write about them."
Corporate narcissism
According to Alan Downs,
corporate narcissism occurs when a narcissist becomes the
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
(CEO) or other leadership roles within the
senior management
Senior management, executive management, or upper management is an occupation at the highest level of management of an organization, performed by individuals who have the day-to-day tasks of managing the organization, sometimes a company or a cor ...
team and gathers an adequate mix of
codependents
In psychology, codependency is a theory that attempts to explain imbalanced Interpersonal relationship, relationships where one person Enabling, enables another person's self-destructive behavior, such as addiction, poor mental health, Maturity ...
around him (or her) to support the narcissistic behavior. Narcissists profess company
loyalty
Loyalty is a Fixation (psychology), devotion to a country, philosophy, group, or person. Philosophers disagree on what can be an object of loyalty, as some argue that loyalty is strictly interpersonal and only another human being can be the obj ...
but are only really committed to their own agendas, thus organizational decisions are founded on the narcissist's own interests rather than the interests of the organization as a whole, the various stakeholders, or the society in which the organization operates.
[Downs, Alan: Beyond The Looking Glass: Overcoming the Seductive Culture of Corporate Narcissism, 1997] As a result, "a certain kind of charismatic leader can run a financially successful company on thoroughly unhealthy principles for a time.
Neville Symington
Neville Symington (3 July 1937 - 3 December 2019) was a member of the Middle Group of British Psychoanalysts which argues that the primary motivation of the child is object-seeking rather than drive gratification. He published a number of books ...
has suggested that "one of the ways of differentiating a good-enough organisation from one that is pathological is through its ability to exclude narcissistic characters from key posts."
Impact of healthy v. destructive narcissistic managers
Lubit compared healthily narcissistic managers versus destructively narcissistic managers for their long-term impact on
organizations
An organization or organisation ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is an entity—such as a company, or corporation or an institution (formal organization), or an association—comprising one or more people and having a par ...
.
[Lubit, R. (2002). The long-term organizational impact of destructively narcissistic managers. Academy of Management Executive, 16(1), 127–38.]
See also
*
Charismatic leadership
In the field of sociology, charismatic authority is a concept of organizational leadership wherein the authority of the leader derives from the personal charisma of the leader. In the tripartite classification of authority, the sociologist Max We ...
*
Control freak
Control freak is a colloquialism for a person who feels a psychological need to constantly be in charge of things and people around them. A control freak can become distressed when they feel things are going out of control. The feel of the need ...
*
Cult of personality
A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader,Cas Mudde, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create ...
*
Healthy narcissism
Healthy narcissism is a positive sense of self that is in alignment with the greater good. The concept of healthy narcissism was first coined by Paul Federn and gained prominence in the 1970s through the research of Heinz Kohut and Otto Kernber ...
*
Leadership accountability
In ethics and governance, accountability is equated with answerability, culpability, liability, and the expectation of account-giving.
As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the public sector, n ...
*
Narcissism in the workplace Narcissism in the workplace involves the impact of narcissistic employees and managers in workplace settings.
Job interviews
Narcissists often excel in job interviews, receiving more favorable evaluations compared to non-narcissistic candidates. ...
*
Narcissistic rage and narcissistic injury
In psychology, narcissistic injury, also known as narcissistic wound or wounded ego, is emotional trauma that overwhelms an individual's defense mechanisms and devastates their pride and self-worth. In some cases, the shame or disgrace is so sig ...
*
Queen bee syndrome
Queen bee syndrome is a social phenomenon where women in positions of authority or power treat subordinate females worse than males, purely based on gender. It was first defined by three researchers: Graham Staines, Carol Tavris, and Toby E. Jay ...
*
Toxic leader
A toxic leader is a person who abuses the leader– follower relationship by leaving the group or organization in a worse condition than it was in originally. Toxic leaders therefore create an environment that may be detrimental to employees, thus ...
*
Workplace bullying
Workplace bullying is a persistent pattern of mistreatment from others in the workplace that causes physical and/or emotional harm. It includes verbal, nonverbal
Nonverbal communication is the transmission of messages or signals through a non ...
References
Further reading
Books
* Conrad E Petty tyranny, dogmatism, narcissistic leadership: what effects do authoritarian leadership styles have on employee morale and performance? (2004)
* Maccoby M Narcissistic leaders: who succeeds and who fails (2007)
* McFarlin DB & Sweeney PD House of mirrors: House of Mirrors: The Untold Truth About Narcissistic Leaders and How to Survive Them (2000)
* McFarlin DB & Sweeney PD Where Egos Dare: The Untold Truth about Narcissistic Leaders – And How to Survive Them (2002)
*
Vaknin Sbr>
Narcissistic and Psychopathic Leaders(2009)
Academic papers
* Brown
Narcissistic Leaders: Effectiveness and the Role of Followers– Otago Management Graduate Review Volume 3, 2005 pp. 69–87
*
*
*
* Kearney KS Grappling with the gods: Reflections for coaches of the narcissistic leader - International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring Vol 8 No 1 February 2010 pp. 1-13
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Research on the Effect of Narcissistic Leadership
Narcissism And Leadership: Does It Work To Be A Jerk?'Narcissistic' chief executives 'obsessed' with large pay packets''
Aol
AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc.
The service traces its history to an online ...
'' 21 Feb 2017
Narcissistic CEOs at American banks took great risks, study shows''
Phys.org'' 03 May 2017
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narcissistic Leadership
Narcissism
Strategic management
Leadership
Harassment and bullying