Take some tips from the psychopaths and narcissists in your workplace. Photo: Nic Walker
A narcissist, a psychopath, and a Machiavellian walk into a bar – OK, not a bar but a workplace. Which of the three is most likely to enjoy a successful career? A study published last year by Swiss researchers gives us an indication of who comes out on top.
Let's begin with the narcissists. These individuals are both egotistic and over-sensitive. That's because their exceedingly generous self-perception is countered by their insecurities, the combination of which results in a cynical and distrustful disregard for others. It's not surprising, then, that their personal relationships are almost non-existent, and so they instead direct their energies towards attaining career success. Anything to enhance their status.
But status isn't what they end up getting. The research, which comprised 800 young adults, found narcissists are unlikely to get the leadership positions to which they aspire. Neither are they likely to derive higher rates of career satisfaction. What they do get, however, is money – more so than the others.
According to a similar study last year, which incidentally produced a less emphatic result, narcissists are able to attract higher salaries because their inflated self-assessment generates immense confidence. That confidence makes them embark on challenges others would ordinarily shirk; challenges for which they're duly rewarded.
So how about psychopaths? Well, in this research, they got nothin'. No salary-related advantages. No hierarchical advantages. And little career satisfaction either. Their lack of career success is baffling.
On the one hand, it's easy to see why they'd be left empty handed. Psychopaths have about as much empathy as an axe. They're emotionally deficient, impulsive, aggressive and ethically negligent. All of that makes for quite an unpleasant individual with whom very few people would voluntarily choose to work.
On the other hand, those same traits make psychopaths ruthless as they knife their way up the career ladder, hence why so many rise to the executive ranks of their organisation. To a carefully selected minority of people, they're charming and charismatic, intelligent and assertive. They know how to impress … but clearly not enough since they lucked out in all measures of this particular study.
Now let's look at Machiavellians. What they seek is authority and control but, unlike psychopaths, they do it in a slicker (but still manipulative) fashion. Where the psychopath uses threats, the Machiavellian uses humour. Where the psychopath ruins relationships, the Machiavellian builds alliances. Where the psychopath is bad-tempered, the Machiavellian is complimentary.
And it works. In this latest research, Machiavellians scored highly in the attainment of leadership positions and in reports of career satisfaction. That's because their ambition is fuelled by a need for status, which compels them to adopt the most influential and persuasive means, no matter how deceitful, to climb the corporate food chain.
So where does this leave us? We certainly shouldn't take from these findings that we ought to be narcissistic or Machiavellian. Instead, we're best served adopting the specific attributes that happen to make some of these characters more successful – attributes such as confidence.
In his book The Confidence Gap, psychologist Russ Harris details 10 insightful rules for gaining this prized trait, three of which especially stand out:
- "The actions of confidence come first; the feelings of confidence come later." (In other words, fake it until you make it.)
- "Self-acceptance trumps self-esteem." (For many of us, our tendency to harshly judge ourselves can debilitate us from getting better.)
- "Failure hurts – but if we're willing to learn, it's a wonderful teacher."
As Dr Harris writes: "Whether you call it lack of confidence, fear of failure, performance anxiety, or self-doubt, chances are it's cost you dearly in your life. Take a moment to consider: What have you given up? What have you missed out on? What opportunities have you lost because of it?"
Do you have narcissists, psychopaths and Machiavellians in your workplace? Are they successful?