Narcissist Leaders : New Organizational Ogres?

-- NR Aravamudhan
Assistant Professor,
Department of Management studies,
Mahendra Institute of Technology,
MallaSamudram,
Tamilnadu.
The author can be reached at
mukundsalem@yahoo.co.in

Narcissist leaders abound in a corporate boardroom. Narcissist leaders thrive on grandeur and flights of fantasy. They believe themselves to be infallible, omniscient, and omnipotent. This article tries to demystify the persona that makes up the narcissist leader. The article also looks at a few underlying strengths of the narcissistic bosses. Managing narcissistic bosses is an art per se. This article also throws light on the daunting task of managing the narcissistic bosses.

You can argue that 20% of the general population is relatively healthy; 20% is relatively sick; and the other 60%, who all suffer from `neurotic misery', somewhere in the middle. That applies to most people I meet.

- Manfred Kets de Vries

Reflections upon business leaders.
You have to hand it to them! The CEOs of today have a patina of audacity, pompousness, and are gallant. They are suave, stylish, urbane, dashing, vain-glorious and glib talkers to fault. They have a surrealistic larger-than-life-persona. Contrast this with the CEOs of yore. The yesteryear managers stayed miles away from the glare of the pestering media. They were staid, sober and less pompous. They mouthed politically correct lines, if at all they cared to open one. But today's leaders as a tribe are made of radically different mold. Iconic CEOs such as Andy Grove, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Jack Welch, are seen more than the Page 3 brigade and heard more than the political bosses. These CEOs have their own battery of publicist and Public Retaions Officers working overtime. They have the chutzpah and gumption to write a book, give interesting sound bytes to the news-hungry media and aggressively push their personal wisdom. These new poster boys have become the toast of high-profile magazines like BusinessWeek, Time and the like. Admittedly, these high-profile corporate czars have come to redefine the broader contours of social and personal discourses. These leaders are all over the place, advising thegovernment to give impetus to the priority sector, exhorting school kids what they should be learning, etc. We look upon them as opinion makers. Do their opinions count? We cotton on to everything they effortlessly pout - be it futuristic killer, applications or a book they picked up for reading in the airport, or their choice of dream destination - we lap it up with glee. The reasons as to why leaders have acquired this larger-than-life persona are many. At one level, businesses have come to appropriate larger role in our public and private space than ever before and leaders find themselves seeped in fame and glory. At another level, business landscape is on the cusp of profound transmogrification and requires dynamic, charismatic leaders to navigate through the sands of shifting times. Michael Maccoby, in his path-breaking article, "Narcissistic Leaders: The Incredible Pros, the Inevitable Cons" cites another reason for this growing clout of new-age managers. According to him, the imposing and a larger-than-life aura of the leaders of the day comes pretty closest to the personality type that Sigmund Freud famously called as Narcissistic. Freud, according to Maccoby describes narcissist as people who make an effort to impress others with their personalities. He further writes that such narcissist people tend to provide support for others, don the mantle of leaders and may lend impetus to demolishing well-entrenched notions and developing new thinking and ways of existence. History is replete with instances of narcissists having assumed center stage, led people from the front and deftly architectured the political and social consciousness. History stands testimony to the fact that societal discourses at some point or other were shaped, sculpted and redefined by stalwarts such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Mahatma Gandhi, and Roosevelt. Businesses, by virtue of being a vehicle of greater social change had its fair share of narcissistic leaders like, Andrew Carnegie, Edison, and Ford who capitalized on emerging technologies and effected a major turnaround in American industries. The situation that existed five decades ago holds true today also.
Sigmund Freud, Maccoby points out in his article, recognized the underbelly of the narcissistic personality. It is not uncommon to see people looking upon a narcissist in a negative light. A deputy of a Larry Ellison, feted CEO of Oracle, once purportedly quipped tongue-in-cheek, "One Helluva difference between God and Larry Ellison is that God doesn't think he is Larry". One may roll in aisles with laughter, but the drift of this rather cheeky line is not lost on any one. Corporate corridors may whisper in hushed tones about leaders who talk themselves in glorious terms until such time they drop dead? Corporate boardrooms are awash with CEOs who sing paeans of their own escapades and take a sardonic pleasure out of it. If you see leaders at the workplace uttering words like "I, Me and just Me, Myself", you have a boss swathed in a narcissist garb. Sigmund Freud termed `Narcissist' after a Greek mythological figure Narcissus, who died a sorry death owing to his overwhelming obsessions with his reflections. Narcissus fell head over heels in love with his own reflection in a pool of water which grew into a mammoth obsession leading to his sad end. The term `narcissism' bristles with a collection of traits that verge on self-admiration, self-aggrandizement, pompousness, vain-gloriousness, egotism and unbridled arrogance. One may come across such narcissistic people in everyday life. We may take their behavior in our stride if they happen to be our kith and kins. If narcissists cohabit the workplace, our threshold limit of adjustment becomes tenuous and weak. A Narcissist could be your colleague, underling or the manager. More often than not, one may always be saddled with more narcissist bosses at the helm. To buttress the point, it is pertinent to look at the findings of study commissioned by Wayne Hochwarter, Professor in the Florida State University College of Business. The survey covering a staggered 1,200 employees sought to find the opinion of narcissistic predilections of managers. The findings point to the fact that 20% to 30% of the employees had managers with narcissistic streak which has had its fallout in the workplace. Thirty-one percent of the employees opined that their bosses tend to grossly exaggerate their achievements in their bid to do a bit of grandstanding. A good deal of 27% complained of their bosses trying to boast about themselves in their bid to win admiration and adulation. Twenty-five percent of the employees opined that the bosses tend to have an exaggerated notion of self and 24% of the respondents rated their bosses to be way too self-centric. The factoids are too revealing and instructive.

Corporate Narcissism - A Fertile Ground of Toxic Environment

This may sound a hyperbole but what happens if patrimonial bureaucracy and totalitarian organizations are wedded together. A pernicious by-product of this (un)holy alliance is narcissism. Perennial bureaucracy gets firmly well-entrenched in an organization when employees develop an unswerving loyalty to their bosses to such an extreme where they seek permission from their bosses for almost every little thing they do. Narcissist leaders nurture such behavior in their subordinates. Sometimes, colleagues also play into their hands. Subordinates and colleagues morph into narcissist leader's co-dependant. This may ego-massage the leader, but will prove to be costly for the organization as a whole. As patrimonial bureaucracy take firmer roots into the organization, organization will mutate into a totalitarian one. A corporate narcissism will rear its ugly head when a narcissist dons the mantle of CEO and begins to pack his/her team with co-dependents who will fuel to his/her narcissistic behavior. Arguably, the performance of the organization deteriorates significantly. Narcissistic leader may swear loyalty to the company they are, working for but they are obsessed about and loyal to their personal agenda. The Organizations real interests take a battering as most decisions taken are inexplicably linked to serving the personal cause of the whimsical narcissist. Narcissist leaders can't do without co-dependents. If the typical narcisstic traits are to be aroused, co-dependents are too willing to provide the situational clue. Narcissist and co-dependents are inexorably attracted to each other as narcissist love to wield power and co-dependents are desperate for stability and security. Co-dependents, in many instances are prepared to go that extra mile to give the narcissist the clues. In doing so, co-dependents may be constrained to throw all ethical and good practices to the wind.
Narcissist leaders are absolutely confident of their intellectual and physical supremacy. Narcissists perceived themselves to be a super-intelligent surrounded by a bunch of small-minded, lily-livered, visionless and petty people. Cut to the early 2000s when the dot com frenzy caught the fancy of the world. The new rookies of dot com companies made a splash with their ventures. All these new-age czars believed they had a vision and cocked a snook at essentials—robust business model, bottom line, warnings of conservative economists, cautious media and insightful analysis. The bubble burst. And how? Narcissist techies brought the doom on themselves. The workplace, led by narcissists, will always slide dangerously into a veritable toxic environment. Narcissistic leaders have a strong desire to exercise control and power over others. In exercising such a brute control, they may resort to surreptitious methods and machinations. If the narcissist boss feels piqued or offended in any conceivable way at the hands of their co-dependents or threatened by the competencies of the managers, they may display their infamous narcissistic rage and aggression. Narcissistic leaders are such an amazing "switch-on-and-switch-off" trapezium artiste as they take little time to switch from, "I am a Mr. Good guy" to "I am a Mr. Bad guy". The shenanigans of the narcissistic boss can plunge the organization into a duplicitous hell. The dubious methods the narcissist employ to exercise control can be devastating for the employees - emotionally, psychologically and mentally. Narcissistic boss may resort to verbal abuses, deliberate smearing campaign, sexual harassment, hoarding information, employment of silent treatment for settling scores with those who dare to cut him or her down to size. A typical narcissist leader is aware of his/her pathetic addiction towards others. They need plenty of adulation, admiration, ovation, cheers big hand, acclamation and what have you. Narcissist leader derives a sardonic pleasure running down, denigrating, humiliating and insulting others. Narcissist leader may spew venom at others and have an overwhelming urge to point out others flaws and frailties. Doctored accounts, corporate scandals, financial improprieties, subverting the rule book, brushing, pressing problems under the carpet, making tall claims, making incredible promises (narcissist call it as a "vision stuff"), are so typical of a narcissist leader . When social mores, norms, and customs blatantly fuel such behavioral traits instead of blunting it, the narcissist behavioral patterns get hardwired, deeply entrenched and calcified. A narcissist leader is born.

Demystifying the Persona of a Narcissistic Leader

Little over forty years ago, a Polish-American-Jewish writer authored a book called Being There. The book chronicles the event that led to pitchforking of an ordinary gardener into the president of USA. His simple, frills-free, banal and hackneyed assertions came to be considered as profound and farsighted insight into political and social matters. These "Being there" symptoms are now finding greater resonance with corporations also. Businesses, battered and ravaged by economic downturns, murky scandals, mega frauds are increasingly gravitating towards "strong men" who are polymaths, have the poise and phlegm, and can usher in a fresh dose of change. But these strong men have a wafer thin resume with very little or no accomplishments to their credit before they inch their way up. They would have shot to prominence from near obscurity. They are perceived as savior as they don't carry the baggage of the past or are less encumbered by ideologies. Their only calling is the beautiful future they want to create. These people have no known history, but they may have the propulsive urge to create one. This obvious lack of personal history propels the person to weave a web of grandiose dream and exhilarating future. He/she may become a plain empty screen on which legions of others project their aspirations, dreams, desires, hopes, attributes, et al. Needless to say, such leaders thrive on the allure and dazzle of neatly-choreographed illusions they manage to work. His supremacy is all a surface bluster sans substance. It is all cloaked in glass and mirror. Admittedly, they may create their own history. Welcome to the world of narcissistic leader. Recognizing the traits of narcissistic leader is quite easy. Though psychologists differ on the issue of recognition of narcissist leaders, a few traits of narcissist can be fleshed out. Narcissistic leaders are way too cold, foxy, understated, refined, selfish, inexorably manipulative, cunning, vain and delirious. They have skills that can match any thespian. They are cruelly ruthless, too charged and singularly devoid of an iota of empathetic quality.

Narcissist Leaders Thrive on a Sense of Grandeur

Narcissists have an overwhelming desire to maintain a façade of a false self. This false self is way too imaginary, insanely grandiose and deliriously concocted. Psychologists consider this personality make-up as a prototypic narcissistic personality disorder. Narcissists project a false self to all and sundry with an overriding hope of getting their narcissistic supply. For the uninitiated, narcissistic supply refers to admiration, adulation or even notoriety and infamy they manage to generate from their underlings. Narcissist likes to hog the limelight and feel miserable, if they do not get the adulation and recognition. The false self is seeped in brilliance, grandiose, obsessive perfection, invincibility, and indispensability, sense of importance, power and absolute immunity. Narcissistic leaders are convinced of their spectacular personal destiny that they believe is theirs. Narcissistic leaders have a strong penchant for setting goals that are far removed from reality. Such leaders have a flight of fancy and are deliriously obsessed with being unique and achieving spectacular things. The truth of the matter is that their projected false self is far removed from their actual self resulting in grandiosity gap. Their success, genius, achievements, bulging financial clout, prestige in the society will be hopelessly not in commensurate with the false self they project to the world. To close the yawning grandiosity gap, narcissist leaders may resort to dubious means such as committing fraud or financial impropriety.

Narcissist Leaders Brag Pompously and Incessantly

The narcissistic leaders have a strong penchant for bragging about their escapades, prowess, accomplishments, successes, genius, wealth and conquests. Their talks will be laced with "I","Me", "and myself". They dub themselves as extraordinarily brilliant, creative genius, too brainy, obscenely rich, or even coy and humble but always in an overtly exaggerated manner. Their biography reads like an esoteric stuff. Their accomplishments will be hopelessly out of tune with their age, experience, fame or even age. The infamous narcissist fibs and lies are obviously evident and palpable. The narcissist derives pleasure in robbing others of their glory and achievements. Narcissist is adept at name-dropping. He/she may do the name-dropping in a non-chalant manner or with a view to generate awe or admiration. For instance, a narcissist leader would prefer to chortle saying, "By golly! I had a dinner with the President, Chakraborthy" instead of saying I met the President, Chakraborthy. This casual and non-chalant remark will have an instant effect of distancing the recipient of such information. In this manner, the narcissist leader manager to induce a feeling of inferiority in the minds of the recipient and keeps his aura of grandiosity intact.

Narcissist Leader Singularly Lacks Empathy

A vibrant leadership calls for a greater sense of empathy. Narcissistic leader expects others to be empathetic without being one in return. Devoid of empathy, narcissistic leaders fare badly in interpersonal relations. Companies may conduct 360-degree appraisal to test their leadership styles or may even host a workshop on listening skills with the avoured purpose of sharpening their skills (or lack of it), but narcissistic leaders are simply not going to change. They lull themselves into a false belief that as long as they deliver and be successful, they don't need training. They look down upon training as a "soft stuff" meant for others and not just them. Though narcissist leaders are surrounded with a pack of side kicks, intuitively they knew who are with them and who are not. Narcissist leaders knows how to wrap people around their sturdy fingers, exploit blatantly and dump them pathetically once their utility is over. No doubt, narcissist leaders have an aura of regality about them, but they are easily reviled at many quarters.

Disdain for Mentoring

Given their strong independent traits and, "Ugh! I care damn about others. I am my own God" kind of attitude, it is unfathomable that narcissists would mentor others and be mentored. Narcissist leaders baulk at the idea of mentoring. Narcissist leaders scarcely mentor others and even if they mentor, they expect their protégées to be watered-down version of their own personality.

Narcissists have Supercilious Body Language

Narcissist body language oozes superciliousness and imperiousness. The physical posture, gait and swagger will betray an air of supremacy, "I-know-it-all" attitude, certain mystery, imperviousness and arrogance. Narcissist leaders can maintain direct eye contact, but avoid physical proximity. They will zealously protect their personal space. Narcissists love social interactions and indulge in badinage. They will mix around with people, fake munificence and beneficence. In the same breath, they want to be a mute spectator or the loner.

Narcissists are Too Self-focused in their Interpersonal Exchanges

Never trust a narcissist leader who coos, "how are you, my dear?" He/she may work from their memory. They couldn't really care about you any less.

Narcissists have Tough Time Holding on to Satisfying Relationships

Narcissist leaders will appear courteous and graceful only in the presence of their probable source of narcissistic supply. They will have tough time holding on to this cursory politeness for long. Before one can say "holy cow", the narcissist will return to his/her vituperative ways. He/she may breathe fire and brimstone, curse, denigrate, stay numbingly aloof, mouth profanities or slip into sulky moods.

Narcissists Tom-Tom About their Intellectual Prowess

Narcissist leaders love to brag about their cerebral prowess or intellectual superiority. Narcissist leaders perceive themselves to be knowledge reincarnate, gifted genius, and persons with extraordinary personal destiny. Narcissist leaders will never own up to their infractions, blunders, mistakes, lies, ignorance and half-baked knowledge. They would not admit to their personal or professional failures. They don't realize that it is possible for any one to break through the veil and veneer of their self-professed superiority, prowess, accomplishments, power, genius and affluence.

Narcissists Feels Shame More than Guilt

Narcissist leader's behavior may seem to be primed on an amazing level of strength. But in reality, it is anything but true. The behavior that rests on a rather tenuous foundation is due to the fear of being caught, exposed or failure staring in the face. Consequently, the leader may exert to overcompensate just to prove his/her utility and relevance. What spurs them on to overcompensate and fake the feelings of being caught or feign "Oh! I-don't - suffer - fools" attitude? In nutshell, it is all about their outrageous shame. Shame is a terrible personal flaw per se. A narcissistic leaders shame is all about their obscene attempt to paper over their `famous' traits such as icy-cold feeling, deceit, falsehood, quirks and cast-in-stone emotions. Narcissist will never let people get closer to them, let alone letting them to know them. The fear of being stripped of their ignorance rattles them very often. Offer the narcissist leader even a trace of mild criticism or make your disillusionment known to them, all hell will break loose and you will have to face the infamous narcissist rage. One cold stare or sparse words from a narcissist leader is enough to strip anybody of their pride and self-esteem. There is something about this feeling called shame - it is unendurable. Many people have assiduously developed a habit not to recognize the shame. Narcissist will protect themselves by becoming insensitive, uncaring, insidious, sly and tortuous. The leader will have to pay a heavy price for becoming insular. He/ she will always be a lone wolf.

Narcissist Leaders Think Themselves as Genius Extraordinaire

A narcissist leader thinks that he or she is an omniscient person. Seldom do narcissist leaders own up to their faults or blissful ignorance. The narcissist leaders are mighty convinced that they are a treasure troves of information. Narcissist leaders believe in turning the mirror inwards and doing a bit of soul-searching as a more effective way of gaining knowledge and despise amassing knowledge through a systematic course work based on conventional curriculum. Suffused with a grandiose feeling, they truly believe that their actions are destined to work wonders for everybody and everyone. Narcissist haughtily look down upon advice or suggestions offered by peers or subordinates. They think people just don't have the brains to suggest or advice them.

Narcissist Leaders Lack Psychological Awareness

Narcissist singularly lack self-awareness. Narcissist leaders remain cut-off from their real self. Suspended from the grim realities of life, coupled with their lack of empathy and adaptive flexibility, will only push them precipitously into a state of fantasy. For a typical narcissist leader, life is just so unreal. A narcissist will never take ownership of his/her actions and cannot for life figure out why he/she should take the rap when things just go bit out of hand. When they are punished, they will think up a conspiracy theory and feel that the entire world is arraigned against them. Narcissists are so convinced of their stupendous personal destiny that they will not be able to take failure and punishment in their stride. A narcissist leader reacts to punishment with a heady mixture of emotions. The narcissist is hurt, disappointed, resentful, bitter, and furious all in the same breath. He/she feels wronged. Narcissists are pretty convinced that other people are envious of their success stories. The truth is a narcissist cannot tolerate the success of others easily. They can wreck havoc against peers, colleagues or underlings who they perceive to be inconvenient for them.

On the Flip Side, Narcissist Leaders Can be Extremely Useful to Organizations

Freud had studied a multitude of personality types, which he winnowed down to three for the purpose of understanding them better. The major three personalities include, among other things, erotic, obsessive and narcissistic. Frankly speaking, every individual is a kitsch of all three major personalities. Of the three, narcissistic streak is firmly hardwired into everyone's DNA. Shorn of narcissistic streak, an individual cannot go on or assert forcefully. Freud's interpretation of all these personality types differed over the period of time. An erotic personality cared for warmth, love, care and affection. Such personalities loved others and craved for love from others. Such people are hopelessly attached to people whom they fear will ditch or dump them conveniently. Teacher, nurses and social workers can be very well be classified as erotic personalities. Erotic people as managers end up becoming very caring and understanding individuals. They steer clear of troubles and make others dependant on them. Freud dubs them as outer-directed people. Obsessives, in a sharp contrast are inner-directed, self-dependant, diligent and great organizers. They can morph into excellent administrators. They are excellent listeners, have better problem-solving skills and constantly scout around for gainful opportunities. Obsessives are underpinned by strong conscience and they work towards continuous improvement at the workplace. Obsessives start off with a business venture that is in tune with their inherent value system. Best of the obsessives are good communicators, good at cost-cutting measures and effectively work within the budget. Their major undoing is that they lack "big picture" thinking, chutzpah, aura and pluck to take the business to dizzying heights of success.
Narcissists have a fiercely strong independent streak and are implacable. They are out-of-the-box innovators. They have a maniac-like drive to achieve fame, fortune and glory. Productive narcissists are top-cheese in their chosen endeavor or field. They question old shibboleths or demolish established assumptions. Narcissists want unabashed adulation and admiration unlike erotics. Narcissist boss is not weighed down by maudlin emotions and sentiments like obsessives are. Hence, they have a "Go-For-Gold" attitude and relentlessly pursue their goals. Any attempts to understand the personality in perspective can be enlightening. Erotic types don't have it in them to be good managers. They constantly seek approval from others. Obsessives have what it takes to be good administrators. But they are too cautious and hypercritical, which are the major impediments. Narcissists have it in them to metamorphose into great leaders. They have and can weave an exhilarating vision. They have charisma to attract followers by hordes.

Narcissists Can Create a Stimulating and Breath-taking Vision

Productive narcissists are dab hands at envisioning. They have uncanny ability for "big picture" thinking. They are not hard-balled analyzers, number crunchers or crystal gazers and they don't make any effort to extrapolate to gain deep insights into the future. Productive narcissists create and re-write their own future. Narcissist leaders have a strong penchant for looking at things that never existed and ask, "What the heck? Why not?" It may be quite instructive to look at the example of Bob Allen, productive obsessive and Mike Armstrong, productive narcissist to understand the difference that sets productive obsessives from productive narcissists. In the year 1997, Bob Allen made a concerted effort to revamp AT&T, so that end-to-end service of bell system could be firmly put back on tracks once again. In doing so, Bob Allen resold local services from Regional Bell operating companies. Though the move was intended to benefit the stakeholders, it did not exactly set the river Thames on fire. In marked contrast, Mike devised a strategy that combined voice, telecommunications and Internet on the back of high-speed broadband connections. Mike Armstrong knew he was hedging his bets quite high and any wrong move could backfire. His strategy paid off. The incident is an object lesson in understanding the different approaches adopted by productive narcissists and obsessives. Mike Armstrong took on huge risks for which obsessives hardly have appetites. He was powered and energized by the vision he had for AT&T. The business landscape is on the verge of profound changes and opportunities abound for productive narcissists. A productive narcissist today is hell bent upon demolishing established notions, turning a stereotype on its head and re-writing the rules of the game. A case in point is Robert B Shapario, the Head of Monsanto. In his interview to New York Times (dated August 5, 1999), he made a statement which many think as rather audacious when he propounded his vision of genetically modified crops as "the best thing that can ever happen to agriculture". No doubt, this may seem a downright preposterous claim considering the fact that many questions about safety and acceptability abound and are still to be answered. The Bt crops continue to be a subject of raging debate in industry as well as academia. In the same breath, it should be noted that a staid industry like agriculture needs a fresh dose of dynamism and change. If Robert B Shapario gambit pays off, the industry will not remain the same anymore. Leaders like Robert B Shapario want to create and leave behind their own glorious legacy.

Productive Narcissists Attract Followers by Droves

Narcissist leaders have what it takes to attract followers. They have a natural talent to attract followers through their persuasive and oratory skills. Narcissist leaders firmly believe that words and powerful speeches can inspire and influence people. Their strong, spell-binding speeches can transform them into charismatic personalities. Anyone who has seen or interacted with narcissist leaders from close quarters can vouchsafe for aura, mystique and their ability to cast a spell on others. They can also incite and bestir interest and enthusiasm among the audience.

Avoid the Booby Traps: Dealing with Narcissist Leaders

Managing narcissists can be equally tricky and challenging. You cannot look in the eye of narcissist leader and say "Oh, my gosh! Stop messing things up". Seldom do narcissist leaders seriously turn the mirror inwards and do a bit of real introspection. Psychoanalysts cavil at the thought of getting closer to them in the work environment to dissect their personality. Treatize on leadership may wax lyrical on obsessives who create well-knit groups and are responsive to colleagues and subordinates. Literature compendiums that focus on narcissist leaders are few and far between and is of peripheral interests to the leaders themselves. Such literature is in no way going to help colleagues and subordinates size up their narcissist bosses. The fact that sparse literature about managing narcissists is available in the public domain does not mean that they are impossible to deal with. Maccoby, in his perspicacity as a career counselor spanning many decades, suggests three ways to deal with narcissists (more so, the productive one).

Narcissists Should Find An Acolyte

Narcissists tend to form close ties with persons who may be their trusted acolytes. He/she may act as an emotional anchor and a trusted confidante. But the confidante may still find it quite tough managing his narcissistic boss. The problem is that narcissistic leaders have their world view and perceptivity. The sidekick will have to make an effort to know what their narcissistic boss is up to and what he/she sees to achieve. For his part, the narcissistic boss should see the acolyte as a shadow of his/her own persona. The acolyte will have to be perceptible to the ways of narcissistic leaders to keep the relationship on an even keel. Strange it may seem, but many bosses tend to lean on their spouses as emotional crutches. Excessive reliance on spouses could prove to be a major impediment and more perilous as she/he may further cut them off by feeding their king-sized ego and buttressing their feeling of grandeur. It would be kosher, if a narcissistic boss is able find a colleague as his acolyte. Good acolytes have it in them to point out the essential needs and missing links of narcissistic leaders invigorating vision and help their bosses keep their heads firmly in place. In many instances, these acolytes are invariably obsessive types. For instance, Bill Gates was able to look at the future with confidence as his Chief Operating Officer (COO), Steve Ballmer, a tough-to-crack obsessive, keeps the show on. Oracle CEO, Larry Ellison has the luxury of taking time off from the stormy meetings and does scuba diving, laze around in the yacht and reflect on the future without carrying his blackberry on his person or getting connected to personal computers. Larry knows that his COO, Ray lane (he is a hard-core obsessive type), will manage the show in his absence. The acolytes usually have an unenviable job on their hands. They need to get that nodding wink from their leader before they can execute their mandates. Getting that nod might be bit tough, considering the amount of persuasion and deliberation an acolyte will have to do. It requires more than footwork on the part of the acolyte to demonstrate to his boss that his point of view can coalesce with his views and how it may further the cause of the organization.

Indoctrinate the Company

Narcissistic leaders want their underlings to appreciate and deify him/her for the manner in which they run the corporation. Narcissist bosses, more so the productive ones, who have strands of obsessive persona, are past masters at proselytizing people to their world view. The poster boy of Corporate America and iconic CEO of GE, Jack Welch, was someone who can win over die hardest of heretic to see his version of the story. Jack Welch is ruthless when it comes to fostering corporate culture or rolling out his risk-ridden strategy. Bill Gates, Grove and Ellison have revolutionized their industries with breakthrough products. In contrast, Jack Welch was able to revolutionize the industry through his "hard to crack and find fault with" strategic executions. He stretched the company to the limits of quality, ratcheted up revenue levels and cut costs drastically. Jack Welch weaved a rich tapestry of corporate culture to execute his daring business strategy. Jack Welch had his own share of critics. They panned his approach aimed at fostering new corporate culture. Many critics pointed out that Jack Welch was able to create the culture through teaching. Many don't understand a simple fact that Jack Welch's teaching entails driving a deeply personal doctrine into GE mangers vis-à-vis his stormy confrontations, shooting-straight-from-the hips speeches and memos. Jack Welch believed in making authoritative statements, rather than just engage in deliberations. Welch had initiated raft of training programs (like six sigma), which mutated into veritable signature line of GE. Welch's message to mangers was loud and clear: "It-is-my-way or highway". This is a teaching at its brainwashing best. You may love him or hate him. You cannot ignore this man who packs in the gumption, guts, no non-sense attitude and profound insights to accomplish what all narcissistic leaders set out to do - manage their companies to relate to their vision, to look at the big picture in a manner they do and become a personification of their organizations.

Managing Narcissist Bosses - An Art Per se

It is difficult to deal with narcissistic bosses. One will have to pack the bag and baggage and look for other options in the event of any collision course with the narcissist bosses. Subordinates would do well to remember that the company is betting big time on boss's vision and not theirs. So, survival should become the key.

Empathize with the Boss

Subordinates would do well to remember that empathizing with a narcissistic boss can iron out the strains in relationship. But one should not make the mistake of expecting the boss to return the compliment. Subordinates will have to relegate their pride and self-esteem to the back burner. Subordinates should understand the fact that behind the veneer of invincibility and infallibility of the narcissist boss, lies a sense of insecurity. A subordinate can praise the boss's accomplishments frequently in a bid to boost his/her self-esteem. But that should not be overdone. A narcissist boss can see through the game plan of people around them who just pile it on. Subordinates should become cagey and circumspect if the boss asks them to offer honest evaluation of his/her behavior. Subordinates should not say or utter something that could potentially damage their self-esteem. Try doing that and you can be the target of narcissist rage.

Give the Boss the Tips. Don't Hanker After Credit

Subordinates should ensure that they hear their bosses out completely before they present their own views. They should not butt in on the conversations or shoot down the boss's idea downright. The boss may not take it kindly. Even if the subordinates were to disagree with their bosses, they should demonstrate how adopting a different outlook to the problem can benefit the boss.

Subordinates Should Refurbish their Time Management Skills

Subordinates should not be surprised, if the boss makes unreasonable demands on their time. Narcissistic bosses are known to swamp their subordinates with a lot of tasks, which they may not possibly be able to discharge. Subordinates should also learn to overlook some of the outlandish demands made by bosses. The boss may forget about them too soon. Subordinates will do well to hang loose when the boss does not have a tight schedule. When the boss is free, he/she may call the subordinates at the oddest of hours. Subordinates will have no option but to run with their tail between the legs.

Conclusion

Narcissistic bosses love to thrive in a rather topsy-turvy world. They may not be comfortable acclimatizing themselves in a rather peaceful situation. Corporations need narcissistic leaders, their attendant grandiosity, abrasive behavior, warts and all. In this day and age, where discontinuities are becoming common place in the world order, companies have no compunction breaking bread with this narcissist devil. In this age where innovation has become a leitmotif for organizations, having a narcissistic leader on board has become a compelling necessity. Company looks to leaders who can create a brilliant future. Narcissistic leaders fit the bill. But many a time, narcissistic leaders have brought only destruction and catastrophe on companies they work for. Companies that have such bosses can zoom into the big league, if the leaders have a good idea of their limitations and work accordingly. For other organizations, they will be in for the worst. The employees will have to look skywards and live on orison.

Feb 2010 HRM Review

LEADERSHIP

Swarm Intelligence in Leadership

-- S Kumar Chandar
Assistant Professor,
SCMS - COCHIN
The author can be reached at
s_kumarchandar@yahoo.com

Small victories can be achieved alone, but not great victories. A swarm is an apparently disorganized collection of moving individuals that tend to cluster together, while each individual seems to be moving in a random direction. It involves a process of mutual interaction, self-organization and interaction with the environment to solve complex problems through the collective behavior. This article discusses how individual efforts can be coordinated to achieve a common goal using Swarm Intelligence (SI).

Wisdom of crowds is the interdisciplinary field of energy that comes into reality, when people interact from the position beyond ego. Human beings have advanced capabilities in interpreting visual data, path planning and reasoning as compared to machines or insects. Swarm behavior defines where the behavior of a large group of individuals is determined purely by their local interaction. The individual may be stupid, inexpensive and dispensable, but with the proper local interactions as a whole, may exhibit amazingly, complex and intelligent behavior. Swarm Intelligence (SI) demands a number of characteristics, like flexibility, robustness, decentralization, self-organization and simplicity to achieve impressive results through collaboration of individuals.

Swarm Intelligence Through Biological Motivation

SI is inspired by a group of social creatures like colonies of ants, swarm of bees, school of fishes and flocks of geese to understand the practical application of existing biological knowledge, in order to formulate new ideas to solve real-world problems. Social intelligence is derived from collective adaptation. The ants can solve complex problems by finding food, building or extending a nest, efficiently dividing labor among individuals, responding to external challenges and spreading alarm. The role of SI is to seek a diversity of options, encourage free competition, and use an effective mechanism to narrow the choice (Example: Investors behavior in the stock market, betters behavior at a horse race). SI architecture is built based on self-organization and stigmergy. Self-organizing systems can be characterized by four properties. 1. `Positive feedback' amplifies a certain behavior (e.g., Bees may induce other bees to follow them to good food sources). 2. `Negative feedback' on the other hand, limits a behavior (e.g., If a food source is too crowded). 3. `The amplification of fluctuations' enables discovery of a new collective behavior resulting from random walks or errors of individuals. 4. `Multiple interactions' between individuals, direct or indirect, can be mediated by sound, smell or vision (e.g., word-of-mouth recommendations of a new restaurant or good doctors). Swarms can communicate indirectly by changing the environment called stigmergy. The ants can communicate with each other by the smell of their body. The ants find the shortest path with a very simple behavior, by laying and following a track of pheromones. The concentration of this chemical on short paths is higher and gets reinforced by the following ants. The model of swarm behavior of ants and torus is explained in the Figure 1.

Swarm Intelligence Through `Cognition'

An intelligent person is not necessarily a wise one. A team or a community with a high collective IQ is not necessarily a wise community. Intelligence refers to the main cognitive powers like perception, action planning and coordination, imagination and hypothesis generation, inquisitiveness and learning abilities. The important application of SI includes: collective leadership, predicting human behaviors to select a movie, crowd control in public places, crowd movement in transportation problems and crowd simulation during the time of peak traffic hours in the city. Companies develop more efficient ways to schedule factory equipment, divide tasks among workers, organize people, and plot strategy.

A group of 100 people was called together and asked to participate in a color grouping experiment. Each wears a T-shirt with a specified color on it. There are 100 T-shirts of 10 different colors. The task is to ask the people to form groups consisting of the same color t-shirts. They are allowed to perform the experiment several times. The process is video recorded and their behavior is analyzed. In the first step, the people are moving as a group towards the closest person with another color T-shirt that is not in their group. In the next step of the grouping, the people do not seek out the closest person but instead try to cluster together in visual groups. In the result of the experiment, human beings wearing similar color T-shirts among 10 different colors are directed to group themselves. The process extracting SI through human swarm is explained in Figure 2.

How the Intelligence is Achieved in Swarm Intelligence?

Collective intelligence evolves with the maturation of `Integral Intelligence' in its members. The more the members are integrally intelligent, the more energized and active they are in the integral intelligence. Behavior of individuals can be explored in terms of the self-organizing properties of the social systems through local interaction between humans, and between humans and environment. SI can be achieved through different type of techniques like:

Consolidation: The individual's diverse opinion is reduced and the team members are exposed to majority arguments.

Clustering: The individuals are clustered or grouped, based on the principle of maximizing the intraclass similarity and minimizing the interclass similarity. Clustering of individuals develop similar beliefs.

Correlation: The individual's attitude and behavior that were originally independent and tend to become associated.

Continuing Diversity: It describes the characteristics of individuals whose behavior changes over time and differ from one another.

Characteristics of Swarm Intelligence in Leadership

Leadership starts where leaders realize the truth of the old adage, "None of us is as smart as all of us". It is not just a matter of getting input from subordinates to make certain decisions. Collective leadership, just like SI, exists at different stages of the development of values in the life of the collective entities involved. The swarm approach changed the dimension and concept of leadership in a broader perspective by shifting the focus from power/structure to performance and centralized leadership to distributed leadership. The leadership style emphasizes on the decision-making strategy rather than the execution of a decision. The difference between individual intelligence and SI is discussed in Table.

The quest for collective leadership describes its functions as follows:

To facilitate the exchange and flow of information among the other members of the team and with its environment;

To guide and support the development of new competencies and effective behaviors of team members;

The leader's emphasis on mission, vision and strategy of the organization and establishment of a framework within which the results are to be achieved;

To provide opportunities for team members to lead and seek common understanding, instead of consensus;

Have the ability to inspire, influence and develop others, while managing conflicts;

Encourages two-way or multi-way communication, including listening and facilitating and provide support among the team members;

Collective leader sets focus on competition, direction and effective alignment;

Greater dependence on interdependent work and enhance co-worker relationships;

A team/leader is provided with authority, if the viability of the team is required in order to achieve the task; and

Creates trust among the team members and take collective action and decision.

A model illustrated in the Figure 3, developed by Norman Johnson, discusses how leadership arises, based upon the degree of emergence and where leadership is located, based on degree of distribution. The leadership landscape is divided into four quadrants. The quadrants Q1 and Q2 represent the traditional/classical type of leadership. The quadrants Q3 and Q4 represent the degree of collective leadership. To enable emergent collective intelligence, the members have to express the diversity, but also share a common vision by developing the trust, openness and acceptance of each other.

Conclusion

SI will increase work efficiency within business and other social organizations. The Web and Web 2.O are the first step to create infrastructure for SI at increasing scales. Most of the Web technologies are products of SI in the vast, loosely- coupled knowledge networks of the Web. The SI will have the greatest impact on organizations over the next 10 years, in vital areas like socio-network analysis, collective intelligence, location-aware applications and event-driven architectures.