October 2005
Management Today
Magazine of the Australian Institute of Management
www.aim.com.au
“Organisational psychopaths” A riveting
article by Helen Burns – we all know people like this. Thankfully
they make up only 1% of the workforce. Unfortunately, because of
the nature of the beast, they tend to show up more in management
ranks than elsewhere.
These people are social predators adept at “kissing
up” and “kicking down”. They can have a devastating
effect on their staff’s morale and productivity. There are
now defined clinical criteria which can assist organisations in
identifying these people.
If you are one of the people perceived as being
less useful to an organisational psychopath, then you may notice
the following traits in their behaviour:
• narcissism
• lack of empathy
• manipulative
• inability to accept responsibility
• cunning
• untrustworthy
• unethical
• parasitic
• remorseless
On the other hand, they may appear intelligent
and charming on first meeting or to people who they perceive to
be of value to them.
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