All of us in corporate life would have come
across the suave, suited, smiling charmer who over a period of time leaves a
number of people and processes gasping, leading to considerable loss of face,
financial losses and many a time, downright frauds.
They are the ones who impresses everyone during the selection
process, impeccably dressed, have answers to all questions, promises
to turn around the fortunes of the company in a short while and when on board
is all charms with everyone, including the canteen boys. Their immediate
bosses get a complex, his fame spreads through the organisation and he involves
a number of colleagues in his quest to transform the organisation.
Very soon, he would have recruited a few trusted lieutenants
from his earlier organisations, alienated few long serving loyalists terming
them as incompetent and would stop at nothing in his pursuit of power and
control. He will find out soon the people who matter and in no
time would try to influence them with his way of thinking. Very often, he would
become pally with the Top man bypassing all layers in between and convince
the Top man that he has all the answers to long pending issues that the current
bunch could not tackle. He soon becomes the Boss’s blue eyed boy.
They are most at home in new, fast paced
organisations looking for the highly effective change managers and
thrive in high risk, high profit environments. When they start to
work on their schemes, senior, long serving and more
balanced employees find their authority and security severely compromised
by this “high potential” management candidate quickly moving up the ranks.
These corporate cons then start a methodical attack on the existing
systems, people and values of the organisation, all the time maintaining a
façade of efficiency and long term commitment. They appear to be successful by
most measures of corporate evaluation, while their destructive
personality characteristics are invisible to most of the people they
interact with. They are able to circumvent well laid out succession plans, and
even performance measures, to give legitimacy to their behaviours. They
abuse co workers, getting away by their perceived closeness to the Top man, and
do everything possible to lower morale and stir trouble especially for those
well established and respected in the organisation. Some of them stir up
conflicts among critical work groups, some steal and commit frauds.
A recent book titled “Snakes in Suits- When Psychopaths go
to Work” by Paul Babiak and Robert D. Hare illustrate these
traits masterfully with real life examples that we are all too familiar
with. I have come across a number of such brilliant cons, even as late as during the latter part of the recession. Many
others when told of the contents of this book also recollect a number of such
high fliers who have always landed them in trouble.
The reason why I thought of bringing this phenomenon to the
notice of my HR colleagues is to make them aware of such dangers lurking
in the form of that very impressive candidate almost everyone is impressed with
and feel is the answer to all their problems. While all such candidates
are definitely not the destructive type, it is important to identify and
understand what makes such Corporate Psychopaths tick, probe some
bahaviours through a well conducted behavioural event interview that might
provide clues to their true nature so as to see through their web of deceit. If
left undetected, they not only flourish all across the organisation as the rising
star and corporate savior, but slowly start alienating the workforce
and colleagues by abusing them, misleading the decision makers and eventually
bring down the organisation; some even going to the extent of joining hands
with a rival to effect a takeover.
I have through the book and other research, come across a number
of traits and characteristics portrayed by these demons in suits. While I am
ever ready to share them in these forums, I would still like to hear from
our learned colleagues on these forums as to their own experiences with
this type of individuals so that we get wiser to a phenomenon that could play
havoc again now that most corporates are once again on the lookout for
that “fix it all” candidate.
Warm Regards
Job Xavier- Mumbai
98923 29188
