Narcissistic Leadership

“You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new.” – Steve Jobs

Theory The theory I have chosen to review is Narcissistic Leadership. When one initial hears the word narcissism, it almost always conjures up negative thoughts and perceptions. While this perception certainly has truth to it, there is also another side that many often overlook or are not aware of. For the purposes of this paper, I will examine an alternative view and emphasize the positive side of narcissism and examine its role in leadership. While I discuss the opportunities, I will also touch on the obvious challenges and the pitfalls that can result this type of leadership behavior.

As mentioned above it is typically associated with negative behavior and comes from the behavioral science and studies from psychology and how it applies to leadership. Narcissism is defined as “extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one's own talents and a craving for admiration, as characterizing a personality type” (Narcissism, 2003). The word “narcissism” traces its origin back to ancient times and is derived from Greek Mythology. It is said that the Greek god Narcissus was lured to a river by Greek Goddess Nemesis and when he gazed into the water, he was mesmerized by own image and was stuck staring at himself until he died (Hard & Rose, 2009). Much later in the 20th Century, it was Freud who brought the subject to the forefront with his studies of the dark side of these behavioral traits (Strachey, 1922). He also dedicated a paper to the subject with his paper, On Narcissism (Sandler, Person, Fonagy, & Freud, 1991). It was not until the 1980’s that Freud’s work in the clinical world was studied in a leadership setting finally bringing some light into how these psychological traits drive personality in an organizational environment (Kets & Miller,

It focuses on Steve Jobs when he was at the helm of Apple Computers and argues that narcissistic leaders are not “doomed to fail” and can excel in their leadership roles if they learn to be humble at times and “accept humility” (Hollingshead, 2016). It provides a counter point on the traditional views of narcissism and highlights that if it can be controlled and managed, then the dark sides of it can be harnessed. Hollingshead’s article highlights the potential power of introducing humility from time. He cites Professor Bradley Owens at BYU. Owens goes on to say, “Just by practicing and displaying elements of humility, one can help disarm, counterbalance, or buffer the more toxic aspects of narcissism” (Hollingshead, et al).

Narcissism’s Dark Side As mentioned earlier, the immediate mental picture that is formed when this subject is brought up is negative. And when you turn on the news, you cannot help but to agree. As Freud and others note from psychological studies to more recent leadership studies, the more common view is that this is a leadership style that is bad for an organization and one that should be avoided at all costs.

Narcissism’s Positive