MYTH #1: Narcissism is just high self-esteem, a great leadership trait.
REALITY: Narcissism is NOT self-love, it is the opposite. Narcissists have huge shame wounds, and their lives are organized to avoid people finding out they are essentially hollow shells. This makes giving them constructive feedback well-nigh impossible.
MYTH #2: Narcissistic leaders help organizations move forward because they are so confident.
REALITY: Healthy confidence is dramatically different from narcissism. It allows room for feedback and humility. Narcissism drives exaggeration (or outright deception) about competency and accomplishments.
MYTH #3: Narcissists have high standards and drive maximum team performance.
REALITY: Narcissists create stress, disconnection, fear, and a lack of authentic engagement. Additionally, narcissists know who to take advantage of and who to flatter. They won’t waste time mentoring a junior-level employee or talking to colleagues unless it’s going to advance their own career.
What the research actually shows:
~ The higher the level of narcissism, the higher the probability that the CEO will commit corporate financial fraud to exaggerate the value of the company.
Study of CEO Narcissism and Corporate R&D Investment
~ Health care, turnover, absenteeism and presenteeism costs always outweigh any perceived “gains” from toxic leadership/high stress environments.
See Dying for a Paycheck by Jeffrey Pfeffer.
~ A toxic work environment significantly impacts job productivity and job burnout due to issues such as ostracism, bullying, incivility and harassment.
An Empirical Study Analyzing Job Productivity in Toxic Workplace Environments
~ Toxic workplace cultures are 10 times more likely to drive employees away. Employees are quitting their jobs in droves because of toxic workplace culture, not low pay. One study found three elements of a toxic culture that caused employees to quit: 1. Failure to promote diversity, equity and inclusion; 2. Workers feeling disrespected; 3. Unethical behavior.
Toxic Workplace Culture 10 Times More Likely To Drive Employees Away
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This post was previously published on But Now I Know Your Name and is republished on Medium.
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