Most people are honest, loyal, law-abiding citizens who focus their energy on making a living, raising a family, and contributing to society. Others are more selfish, concerned only about themselves, and appear to lack a moral compass. These individuals display little regard for others, allowing their need for power and prestige to override their sense of fairness and equity.1 Unfortunately, some individuals in the business world allow the responsibilities of leadership and the perquisites of power to override their moral sense. The recent increase in reports of abuse in major corporations and governments therefore should not be a surprise, given the increased access to unrestricted power, resources of startling proportions, and the erosion of ethical standards and values.
Perhaps leaders in business and government may experience this weakened moral sense of “right and wrong” in the face of excessive temptation and easy access to power. Others may feel justified in reaping the rewards in proportion to the size of the organization they lead, arguing that their extravagances seem excessive only to those who have little hope of achieving them. Some justify their success by embracing the self-serving mantra that “greed is good” and believe that success at any cost is both desirable and justifiable.
However, another group exists, one whose behaviors and attitudes potentially are much more destructive to organizations and employees, and to governments and citizens. This group, the subject of this book, displays a deep, dark personality rooted in lying, manipulation, deceit, egocentricity, callousness, and other potentially destructive traits. This personality is psychopathy.
What makes psychopathy unique is that its defining characteristics and traits lead to behaviors that conflict with the generally accepted norms and laws of society. Some people with psychopathic personalities are in prison because of their crimes, often violent, against people and property. Others are in prison for white-collar crimes, such as fraud, embezzlement, or stock manipulation. Yet many, if not most, of those who commit crimes rarely face prosecution or, if they do, typically serve light sentences before returning to a life of economic crime. As we indicate in Chapter 2, the instruments used to assess psychopathy identify a continuum that varies from no psychopathic traits to a heavy concentration of such traits. We refer to the latter as psychopathic or as psychopaths (see Figure 9.1 for a representation of the continuum). This is analogous to describing those with high blood pressure as hypertensive or hypertensives.
Many individuals with a heavy dose of psychopathic traits routinely bend or break the law but manage to avoid charges or convictions for their actions. Some researchers refer to such individuals as “successful psychopaths.” However, it seems incongruous to us to refer to psychopaths as successful merely because they manage to avoid prison. Many of these individuals engage in a variety of parasitic, predatory, and socially deviant activities, such as flagrant traffic violations, sexual misconduct, spousal and child abuse, bullying, dishonest business practices, and other behaviors that result in serious psychological, physical, and financial harm to others, including family and friends. For many of these individuals, the subject of this book, their definition of success is the acquisition of power, prestige, and financial enrichment, without concern for the feelings or welfare of others. In this sense, some do succeed, but for others success is sporadic, transitory, and, in some cases, bordering on illusory.2
The scientific study of the criminal psychopath is extensive. However, at the time we wrote the first edition of this book, the empirical study of psychopaths in various organizations was scarce. For years, many experts believed that their very nature would make it difficult for them to function in society or to have long-term, successful careers in business and industry. At least that was the conventional wisdom until we did our research.
Over a decade ago, there was very little understanding of how psychopaths could operate “under the radar” in organizations such as for-profit businesses, non-profits, civil service, religious groups, academia, the military, and government agencies. The first edition of this book evolved out of our realization that the public needed more information about what constitutes psychopathic manipulation and deceit among seemingly successful psychopaths. As we wrote in the first edition: “The premise of this book is that psychopaths do work in modern organizations; they often are successful by most standard measures of career success; and their destructive personality characteristics are invisible to many of the people with whom they interact. They are able to circumvent and sometimes hijack succession planning and performance management systems in order to give legitimacy to their behaviors. They take advantage of communication weaknesses, organizational systems and processes, interpersonal conflicts, and general stressors that plague all companies. They abuse coworkers and, by lowering morale and stirring up conflict, the company itself. Some may even steal and defraud” (pp. 139–140).3
While the scientific literature on criminal psychopaths was extensive, and is still growing, it primarily involved forensic scientists, clinicians, and criminal justice professionals. By sharing our research, by using nontechnical language and actual case studies, we hoped to close some of the gaps in the understanding of psychopathy among business readers. We wanted to provide them with the experience of working right next to, and to recognize, a psychopath by presenting the kinds of real-life situations we have encountered in our work, including, in many cases, the actual dialog used by the players. Because a psychopathic coworker can harm your career in seen and unseen ways, we hoped that this knowledge would prepare readers to avoid the devastation of psychopathic abuse. Since that time, we have received numerous letters and emails from readers thanking us and sharing with us their own personal experiences with psychopathic coworkers, bosses, and even family members.
Unlike when we wrote the first edition, we now have a considerable number of empirical studies on corporate psychopathy, to which we will refer throughout the book. Although several of our suggestions concerning psychopathy in the workplace have been empirically studied and confirmed since then, the scientific study of corporate psychopathy is still in its infancy; there are many research questions in need of empirical field tests. For example, how do psychopaths manage to enter an organization? What impact do they have on the functioning and reputation of the organization and its personnel? Our goal in this revised edition of Snakes in Suits is to bring the reader up to speed on the current knowledge about psychopathy and share our continuously improving understanding of this phenomenon.
We approach this task by informing the reader about the nature of psychopathy and its impact on the workplace. In chapters 1 and 2, we explore in detail the many traits and characteristics that define the psychopathic syndrome. In chapters 3 through 10, we focus on the manipulation techniques psychopaths use to use and abuse their victims. In the third part of the book, chapters 11 through 13, we offer best practices, gleaned from our experience coaching and consulting with organizations that can aid readers who feel that they are dealing with a psychopath on the job.
To illustrate many of the concepts, we include case studies along the way. The first, The Case of Dave, is broken down into ten segments, written out as scenes in a stage play, so that the reader can not only see and feel the presence of psychopaths but also directly tie their machinations to the content presented in the related text. We also start with a full case, The Case of the Pit Bull, to illustrate the entire psychopathic manipulation process as it often plays out in real life. Then, throughout the book, we introduce other, shorter cases to illustrate specific points. (Note: with some exceptions, we do not use real names and have changed identifying details.)
Additionally, we have grouped the updated research notes as Supplemental Material, referenced in the text according to the chapter they are in, their position in the chapter, and a brief title. For example, the first Supplemental for Chapter 2 is S 2.1: Nature? Nurture? Both! The Supplementals are at the end of the chapter so that interested students of psychopathy can focus on the data while others can skip to the next chapter. We also have introduced Discussion Questions to provoke the reader to consider the finer points of the material; these are also suitable for classroom use or for book club discussions. The Notes section provides references for material discussed in the text, organized by chapters. There are many documentaries on psychopathy. We note some of the better ones in the Recommended Documentaries section. Readers also might wish to access www.hare.org for an updated list of books, chapters, and articles on psychopathy. In many cases, there are direct links to abstracts of articles. The web pages of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy (SSSP; www.psychopathysociety.org) and of the Aftermath: Surviving Psychopathy Foundation (www.aftermath-surviving-psychopathy.org) provide important information about research on psychopathy and survival techniques, respectively.
This book will introduce you to the way these “snakes in suits” manipulate others; it will help you see through their games and give you pointers on how to protect yourself, your career, and your company.