Narcissistic leadership is a

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...

style in which the leader is only interested in him/herself. Their priority is themselves – at the expense of their people/group members. This leader exhibits the characteristics of a narcissist: arrogance, dominance and hostility. It is a sufficiently common leadership style that it has acquired its own name.

Narcissism Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism exists on a co ...

is most often described as unhealthy and destructive. It has been described as "driven by unyielding arrogance, self-absorption, and a personal egotistic need for

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

and

admiration Admiration is a social emotion felt by observing people of competence, talent, or skill exceeding standards.Algoe, S. B., & Haidt, J. (2009). Witnessing excellence in action: The ‘other-praising’ emotions of elevation, gratitude, and admirati ...

Narcissism and groups

A study published in the journal ''Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin'' suggests that when a group is without a leader, a narcissist is likely to take charge. Researchers have found that people who score high in narcissism tend to take control of leaderless groups.

Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...

considered "the ''narcissistic'' type... especially suited to act as a support for others, to take on the role of leaders and to... impress others as being 'personalities'.": one reason may be that "another person's narcissism has a great attraction for those who have renounced part of their own... as if we envied them for maintaining a blissful state of mind—an unassailable libidinal position which we ourselves have since abandoned." According to the book ''Narcissism: Behind the Mask'', there are four basic types of leader with narcissists most commonly in type 3 although they may be in type 1: # authoritarian with task oriented decision making # democratic with task oriented decision making # authoritarian with emotional decision making # democratic with emotional decision making

Michael Maccoby Michael Maccoby (March 5, 1933 – November 5, 2022) was an American psychoanalyst and anthropologist globally recognized as an expert on leadership for his research, writing and projects to improve organizations and work. He authored or co-auth ...

stated that "psychoanalysts don't usually get close enough to arcissistic leaders especially in the workplace, to write about them."

Corporate narcissism

According to Alan Downs, corporate narcissism occurs when a narcissist becomes the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

(CEO) or other leadership roles within the

senior management Senior management, executive management, upper management, or a management is generally individuals at the highest level of management of an organization who have the day-to-day tasks of managing that organization—sometimes a company or a corpor ...

team and gathers an adequate mix of codependents around him (or her) to support the narcissistic behavior. Narcissists profess company

loyalty Loyalty, in general use, is a devotion and faithfulness to a nation, cause, philosophy, country, group, or person. Philosophers disagree on what can be an object of loyalty, as some argue that loyalty is strictly interpersonal and only another ...

but are only really committed to their own agendas, thus organizational decisions are founded on the narcissist's own interests rather than the interests of the organization as a whole, the various stakeholders, or the society in which the organization operates.Downs, Alan: Beyond The Looking Glass: Overcoming the Seductive Culture of Corporate Narcissism, 1997 As a result, "a certain kind of charismatic leader can run a financially successful company on thoroughly unhealthy principles for a time. But ... the chickens always come home to roost". Neville Symington has suggested that "one of the ways of differentiating a good-enough organisation from one that is pathological is through its ability to exclude narcissistic characters from key posts."

Impact of healthy v. destructive narcissistic managers

Lubit compared healthily narcissistic managers versus destructively narcissistic managers for their long-term impact on

organizations An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

.Lubit, R. (2002). The long-term organizational impact of destructively narcissistic managers. Academy of Management Executive, 16(1), 127–38.

References

External links

Narcissism And Leadership: Does It Work To Be A Jerk?

'Narcissistic' chief executives 'obsessed' with large pay packets
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Aol AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...

'' 21 Feb 2017
Narcissistic CEOs at American banks took great risks, study shows
'' Phys.org'' 03 May 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Narcissistic Leadership Narcissism Strategic management Leadership Workplace bullying

Narcissism and groups

Corporate narcissism

Impact of healthy v. destructive narcissistic managers

See also

References

Further reading

Books

Academic papers

External links