Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction: leaders and organizations in search of treatment
- 1 Hubris and narcissism: the dark underbelly of leadership
- 2 The enigma of an unintentionally toxic leader: an emotionally turbulent, destructive and impulsive workplace
- 3 The narcissistic leader: world-renowned and quite arrogant
- 4 Leader sabotage and the dysfunctional organization: the fish rots from the head down
- 5 The obsessive compulsive leader: a manager's mandate for perfection or destruction
- 6 The borderline leader: when brilliance and psychopathology coexist
- 7 Trouble at the top: high-toxicity implications of a leader with antisocial personality disorder
- 8 Histrionic leadership: the allure of the toxic leader in a volatile industry
- 9 The outer limits of toxic organizational behavior: corporate trauma in the form of disturbed leadership
- 10 Destructive leaders and dysfunctional organizations: tearing downs the walls of professional greed, hubris, toxic genius and psychopathology
- References
- Index
1 - Hubris and narcissism: the dark underbelly of leadership
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction: leaders and organizations in search of treatment
- 1 Hubris and narcissism: the dark underbelly of leadership
- 2 The enigma of an unintentionally toxic leader: an emotionally turbulent, destructive and impulsive workplace
- 3 The narcissistic leader: world-renowned and quite arrogant
- 4 Leader sabotage and the dysfunctional organization: the fish rots from the head down
- 5 The obsessive compulsive leader: a manager's mandate for perfection or destruction
- 6 The borderline leader: when brilliance and psychopathology coexist
- 7 Trouble at the top: high-toxicity implications of a leader with antisocial personality disorder
- 8 Histrionic leadership: the allure of the toxic leader in a volatile industry
- 9 The outer limits of toxic organizational behavior: corporate trauma in the form of disturbed leadership
- 10 Destructive leaders and dysfunctional organizations: tearing downs the walls of professional greed, hubris, toxic genius and psychopathology
- References
- Index
Summary
A certain degree of narcissism is perfectly natural and even healthy. A moderate measure of self-esteem contributes to positive behaviors such as assertiveness, confidence, and creativity, all desirable qualities for an individual in any walk of life, but particularly so for business leaders. At the other end of the spectrum, however, extreme narcissism is characterized by egotism, self-centeredness, grandiosity, lack of empathy, exploitation, exaggerated self-love, and failure to acknowledge boundaries. In this severe form, narcissism can do serious damage. This is especially true within an organization, where the combination of a leader's overly narcissistic disposition and his or her position of power can have devastating consequences.
(Kets de Vries, 2006)EXTREME HUBRIS OF TOXIC LEADERS
Hubris and narcissism speaks volumes when unraveling the complex behavior of leaders. Curiously, there is even more than initially meets the eye when attempting to decode the dark and troubled side of leadership. Stories abound as the media has feasted on the upper-echelon conflicts and debacles at Vivendi Universal, Global Crossing, Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, and a “Who's Who” list of Fortune 500 corporations and executives. An infamous circle of corporate leaders have shamelessly exhibited the farther reaches of hubris in the form of greed, excesses, arrogance and unbridled bluster. The toxic leadership of Jean-Marie Messier, Gary Winnick, Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Dennis Kozlowski, and Bernard Ebbers has permanently engraved the darker and destructive side of organizational behavior into the collective conscience of Wall Street, corporate life and business schools around the world.
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- Information
- Destructive Leaders and Dysfunctional OrganizationsA Therapeutic Approach, pp. 11 - 26Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009