Narcissism. Meanness. Immodesty. Even depression.
The personality traits that can make people intolerable to work with — and, especially, for — are sometimes what landed them in positions of power in the first place.
The role that people’s “dark sides” play in leadership is the subject of the most recent issue of the trade magazine Talent Quarterly, out Tuesday, which gathered input from leading researchers on the topic.
Here is a sampling of what they had to say. The takeaway: In leadership, as in galaxies far, far away, only at the end do you realize the power of the Dark Side.
Robert Hogan, president of Hogan Assessments:
“The problem with dark side behaviors is that, in leaders, they erode and/or destroy subordinates’ trust. Dark side behaviors help managers emerge, but degrade their credibility with subordinates.”
Charles O’Reilly, professor of management at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business:
“Who would like a narcissist as their CEO? Well, venture capitalists, for instance. When a venture capitalist is investing in a young company, one of their big risks is management team risk. They look for people who are grandiose, who are self-confident, who are charming, who believe they can change the world. Those are the people you want to invest in.”
Peter Harms, assistant professor of management at the University of Alabama:
“In the domain of personality assessment and job performance outcomes, we’ve found that assessments of so-called ‘dark side’ of personality can matter more than twice as much as the positive characteristics most commonly used in selection instruments. … Consequently, we believe that developmental and selection efforts aimed at moving the dial from ‘bad’ to ‘good enough’ are likely to have more of an effect than trying to move individuals from ‘good’ to ‘great.'”
Jay Conger, leadership studies professor at Claremont McKenna College:
“There is strong evidence that individuals who are highly narcissistic are more likely to emerge as leaders primarily because of their more profound needs for dominance, recognition and grandiosity. Their sense of superiority leads them to risk taking and bold actions. … (But) in the drive to achieve a bold vision or transformation, narcissistic leaders within large organizations often suffer from a failure to build networks of support outside of their own division underestimating critical political resources. … Their sense of independence, exaggerated self-confidence and conviction in the rightness of their visions or initiatives lead them to underestimate the political support they will need to succeed.”
Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business and author of “Leadership Shop”:
“Immodesty in all of its manifestations — narcissism, self-promotion, self-aggrandizement, unwarranted self-confidence — helps people attain leadership positions in the first place and then, once in them, positively affects their ability to hold on to those positions, extract more resources (salary), and even helps in some, although not all, aspects of their performance on the job. At first this might seem counterintuitive. After all, people who self-promote are less likeable, and likeability is an important basis of interpersonal influence and a reason for others to prefer the likeable individual. … (But) once people form an impression, they ignore discrepant information and seek out and overvalue confirming evidence. In the case of leadership, if you project confidence and claim competence with enough conviction to be credible, observers will tend to assimilate any information about you in ways consistent with the idea that you know what you are doing and are deserving of a position of leadership.”
Dr. Nassir Ghaemi, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston:
“That blue, reclusive, withdrawn person who keeps to herself probably has a better sense of her own abilities and of realities in her work than the reliable, friendly, pleasant person down the hall. The normal, mentally healthy employee won’t see the twists and turns of changes in the marketplace, and won’t foresee how things are moving if they go in a new direction. The depressed employee will see the early signs of change. The normal person uses the past to predict the future, and is right when the past predicts the future, but wrong when it doesn’t. The depressed person sees the present clearly, isn’t fooled by over-reliance on the past, and thus predicts a new future.”
Rob Kaiser, president of Kaiser Leadership Solutions:
“The way to adapt to a boss’s dark side is to understand the motivation behind the frustrating behavior so one can play psychological judo and turn these dark forces on themselves. For instance, give insecure intimidators their space, and be strategic about when to deliver bad news. … Give charismatic seducers the respect and attention they crave. … And make sure feedback isn’t too threatening to their need to see themselves as amazing. Rather, explain how troubling behaviors and decisions may cause some to see them as somewhat less amazing. Reassure needy ingratiators that they are liked and valued.”
