In my Leader Lab article entitled “Is a Narcissistic CEO Good for Your Organization?” I reported the results of an extremely well done research article on the relationship between CEO narcissism and company performance. The bottom line was a company run by a narcissistic CEO did not outperform a company run by a non-narcissist, so why trust the future of your company to one of these folks?
The way the researchers measured narcissism was really slick. They could not administer the CEOs of the 111 computer software and hardware companies a narcissistic personality test, so they had to rely on publicly available information to evaluate this trait. They looked for indicators of narcissism in the manifest decisions CEOs made about aspects of their public image that they could influence. These unobtrusive measures of narcissism developed by the researchers might be even more effective indicators of CEO narcissism than a personality test.
Recall from my previous article that narcissism has the following four dimensions:
- Exploitativeness/Entitlement: I deserve respect, and insist you give it to me
- Leadership/Authority: I love to be the center of attention
- Superiority/Arrogance: I am better than others
- Self-absorption/Self-Admiration: I truly am extraordinary and special
The unobtrusive measures of CEO narcissism developed by the researchers and the corresponding dimensions of narcissism they represent are as follows (pp. 363-365):
1. Prominence of the CEO’s picture in annual reports
- Leadership/Authority – I am the central figure in this company
- Self-absorption/admiration – I enjoy the visibility that comes with being CEO
- Entitlement – I deserve to be showcased
2. CEO prominence in press releases
- Leadership/Authority – I am the central figure in this company
- Self-absorption/admiration – I enjoy the visibility that comes with being CEO
- Entitlement – I deserve to be showcased
3. First-person singular pronouns in interviews
- Leadership/authority – leadership is a solo endeavor, not a group activity
- Superiority/arrogance – the company and I are synonymous
- Entitlement – I deserve to be showcased
4. CEO pay relative to that of the second highest paid executive
- Superiority/arrogance – I am, by far, the most valuable person in the organization
- Entitlement – I deserve far more compensation than anyone else in this organization
These four items produced a surprisingly valid and reliable measure of CEO narcissism. Ok, so your CEO might be a narcissist if:
- Your CEO’s photo in the annual report is of him or her alone and occupies more than half a page
- Your CEO insists on being mentioned by name numerous times in positive press releases
- Your CEO uses first-person singular pronouns (I, me, mine, my, myself) significantly more than he or she uses plural pronouns (we, us, our, ours, ourselves)
- Your CEO’s cash and non-cash pay is significantly and unusually higher than that of the second highest paid executive
If it looks like a narcissist, and it sounds like a narcissist, it just might be a narcissist. Don’t expect your CEO to see these traits in himself, or for that matter to even care what you or anyone else might think.
Related Posts:
Seven Things To Expect From Your Narcissistic Employee
Remarkably Unprofessional Behavior
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Very interesting, Bret; have to say, a few CEOs come to mind as possible narcissist leaders. I do have a few questions: 1) Can these traits become more pronounced as others react to them (reinforcement) such as awe-struck direct reports or even the media? and 2) Is narcissism more common in one gender over another? Thanks for keeping us well-informed on positive org behavior.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
September 7th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Good questions. Debra. I’m not sure if narcissism is more prominent in one gender, but I’ve never seen anything to suggest that it is. We do know that most CEOs are male, so narcissism in the c-suite would by default be more male. Theoretically, narcissism is a stable trait, so we should not expect it to become either significantly more or less pronounced. But it might appear that way as the individual gets more power and opportunity to express the trait. Thanks! Bret
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Bret- Oh My! I have come across so many like this in my time. Now I can just laugh- Thanks!
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
September 7th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Welcome, Gina! So very sorry to hear that, but thanks for sharing! Bret
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