We often associate the term psychopath with a serial killer or a gang leader, but psychopathic traits are more common than you think – especially among CEOs and entrepreneurs.
Research shows that psychopaths thrive in the business environment, and one of five business leaders are hiding psychopathic tendencies. These leaders tend to put their ambition above anything else and gain their authority through intimidation. Here are some of the impacts of psychopath leaders on business management.
Psychopaths tend to be charming, creative and possess good communication skills. These traits are useful for convincing others – be it the employees, business partners or investors. However, research also shows that a high measure of psychopathy directly contributes to a more unsatisfactory performance review in the long run, despite their charming nature.
They also tend to be more impulsive in making a decision, which comes from a lack of fear. They thrive in fast-paced environments and are comfortable with taking risks, which is also one of the crucial characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.
Besides this, psychopaths commonly form a superficial, short term relationship with others; mostly that only benefit them. They care about self-interest and are very good at promoting themselves, but are terrible at people management.
Finally, psychopaths lack guilt and remorse. Though they can distinguish between right and wrong, they only feel these emotions when it impacts them directly. As a result, they have no problem stealing employees' ideas, bullying, or even scamming authorities.
In essence, the impact of psychopathic tendencies can be harmful to a business if there is no balance between self-interest and altruism. One should not only rely on personal gain when doing business; establishing genuine relationships is also an essential factor for successful business management.
Unsatisfactory performance in the long run
Higher risk-taking behaviour
Terrible at people management
Lack of guilt and remorse
