Coping with workplace psychos -- Page 2

David L. Weiner, chairman and CEO of Marketing Support Inc., a Chicago-based brand agency, has known a CEO or two who fit the characteristics he examines in his book, "Power Freaks."

He recalls one top exec who wore a bulletproof vest, kept a gun handy and disinherited his son with a one-paragraph letter because he was offended by something his erstwhile heir said. "You thought, talking to him, that you were in the asylum," Weiner recalls.

Weiner says a corporate culture that turns a blind eye to aggressive one-upmanship is a perfect breeding ground for psychopathic bullies.

"There are two ways to become a bully; either you're a psychopath or you mimic psychopathic traits. You have no feelings of shame or guilt; you're basically uninhibited. And you're a bit of a sadist, so you're aggressive. You sort of get a high out of bullying people."

But Babiak says there's an important clinical difference between the psychopath and the garden-variety bully.

"Studies indicate that bullies are actually inept people who are not talented, maybe have a rage against themselves that they express outward toward people they see as being better than they are. It's from a point of weakness that they express their violence toward others. They need the audience," he says.

"The psychopath operates from a point of strength; he or she is playing the game themselves and they don't need an audience. If you don't play, they will move on toward the next one. There is no investment in you as a piece on the chessboard, where with a bully, there is some sort of relationship there."

Corporate chameleons
Companies of all sizes can be duped, charmed and ultimately destroyed by a psychopath if they give them enough power. Not only are psychos inherently focused on climbing the corporate ladder by any means necessary (the riskier the better), their psychological profile, particularly their aversion to routine, makes them most suited to the executive lifestyle.

"That's the big problem. They are outstanding in their ability to charm other people. I always think of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," says Babiak. "We call them 'corporate chameleons.'

"In a corporate setting, for instance, when you're looking for a leader, you want someone who is competent and loyal. A psychopath can easily convince you they're competent because they are very good liars and they are amazingly loyal because most of their relationships are built one-on-one, so they don't allow you to see the backstabbing, which is done in private. They are able to mask that."

In an effort to help businesses weed out fast-rising psychopaths before they can get their grips on corporate profits and pension funds, Babiak and Hare developed the Business Scan 360, or B-Scan, a personality test based on their research into psychopaths.

The scan is labeled 360 because everyone -- your boss, your peers and your subordinates -- fills it out except you. Their answers to 107 statements are then crunched based on 16 scales of behavior, including bullying, parasitic, unethical, overly dramatic and uncontrolled behavior. The purpose of the test is to "red-flag" behavior patterns that, if left unchecked, could have a negative impact on the organization.

"It doesn't mean you are a psychopath if you come out high on bullying," Babiak cautions. "Now if you come out high on all 16 scales, probably your company should take a second look. More often than not, I suspect they have already noticed you and that's why they're going through this."

Can a psychopath change his or her ways?

"Yes, through some psychotherapy and anger management they can come to the point where they realize that the hurt they do to other people is not a nice thing," says Babiak. "But group therapy tends to make psychopaths better psychopaths because it gives them more behaviors to use to camouflage themselves."

Lest you start feeling unduly squeamish in staff meetings, it's important to note that the bully in the next cube or the drama queen across the hall are not necessarily psychos. But the higher up the ladder you climb, the more you may encounter.

Do psychos actually make it to the top?

"I would have to say yes," says Babiak. "To quote 'Survivor': They can outwit, outplay and outlast everybody."

So when you call the boss crazy, you just might be right.

Jay MacDonald is a contributing editor based in Mississippi.