Management Today: 5 Signs of a Narcissistic Leader

Originally found at Management Today, by Orianna Rosa Royle.

Leadership positions tend to attract narcissists because of status involved. Yet spotting a narcissist in the C-suite is tricky as climbing the corporate ranks to a position of power requires a certain level of charm, confidence and self-promotion - it's not a huge leap from there to develop an inflated sense of superiority.

Fortunately, research from the Academy of Management Perspectives separates workers whose boasts outweigh their abilities from those with a set of traits classified as a personality disorder.

• Red-flag behaviour of a narcissist in the workplace includes:
• Over-claiming, or falsely taking credit for, contributions to the organisation
• Being aggressive after negative feedback and criticising the source of feedback
• Treating valued members of the organisation differently than those who do not boost their egos
• Trying to control or minimise other people’s influence
• Making bold, risky decisions for personal benefit without considering consequences to the organisation, rules and ethics, or others

“Their interests aren’t organisational interests. Their interests are for themselves,” says Birgit Schyns, co-author of the insights and Neoma Business School professor.

Continue reading the original article at Management Today.

Read the original research in Academy of Management Perspectives.

Also read this AOM Insights summary citing this research.

Learn more about the AOM Scholars and explore their work:

• Birgit Schyns, Neoma Business School
• Barbara Wisse, University of Groningen and Durham University Business School
• Stacey Sanders, University of Groningen