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Narcissism and Leadership
Posted: 16/02/09Narcissism and Leadership
Professor Malcolm Higgs, Professor of HR Management and Organisation Behaviour, University of Southampton, School of Management
Malcolm outlined his theory regarding the dangers of the current ‘Cult of Personality’ that surrounds leadership in organisations today, particularly the idea of ‘Heroic Leadership’ and the trend that CEO’s are becoming more interested in their public image and role of minor celebrity, than running the business. He linked this to the idea that some CEO’s may be narcissistic personalities (in the Freudian sense) and therefore be a threat to their organisations’ performance and the people working for them.
Malcolm outlined the characteristics of such individuals and presented the findings of some recent research he has been conducting in this area showing that the performance of ‘leader-centric’ organisations fluctuates widely.
He then discussed the behaviour of such leaders and how this might be addressed by organisations to limit the ‘dark-side’ of their excesses.
It was a very interesting presentation that stimulated much discussion.