You are here: Home > In Context > Workplace >
Narcopaths in the workplace can appear stellar. They can also destroy teams and undermine moral. Their impact in the workplace must be carefully considered…
Narcs in the Workplace
Look out for the following key red flags that give away a narcissist in the workplace:
- They lack empathy towards their subordinates, to whom they can be cruel. Often this will result in those juniors complaining to HR.
- They like to dominate meetings even when they are not chairing them, hogging the limelight, cutting off others and controlling the flow of discussion.
- They will sabotage the success of other members of staff.
- They will disrupt other’s intent to work with discussion that seeks to bring them attention.
- They may cock up an assignment because they weren’t able to do it but were too ashamed to ask for help – and will then blame their failure on someone else.
- They will seek to claim credit for other’s success.
- They are disrespectful to their boss, to whom they have a habit of talking back.
- They are extremely sensitive to negative feedback about them, and will debate adverse comment about their performance, sidestepping responsibility and deflecting blame.
- They will mischief-make with anyone who they feel does not support their grandiose view of themselves.
- They create rumours and gossip about other members of the team, including their bosses.
- They are likely to fiddle expenses.
- They will often demand promotion and/or pay rises that is not commensurate with their performance.
Do Narcopaths make good Salespeople?
They have many facets that make them perfect for the job as individuals.
- Con artists to the core
- Extremely competitive
- Not constrained by the truth
- Upbeat, confident and charming personalities
- Ruthless etc.
But they also pose many problems as employees and members of a team.
- The lie – so what starts as a great sale can easily end as a customer complaint.
- They are not team players and their competitive streak can backfire as they put their own ambitions over the goals of the team.
- They are insanely jealous – and so will undermine and sink their competitors – which in a sales team environment they will consider to be their colleagues.
- They do take responsibility for their actions nor will they be held accountable.
So don’t be surprised to find a stellar salesperson surrounded by a disgruntled team and bunch of peeved customers. Any advantage that they appear to directly bring to the company can be greatly outweighed by more general disadvantages.
< Narcopaths in Communities | The Workplace Narcissist | As Managers >