Corporate Psychopaths

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

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