Six ways to spot the workplace psychopath lurking in your office By Hazel Parry

dpa German Press Agency Published: Wednesday March 21, 2007

By Hazel Parry,
Hong Kong- Dr John Clarke, for years an expert in the
criminal mind, remembers the day he suddenly realized that there
might be psychopaths at large in millions of offices around the
world.
"I was giving a lecture on criminal psychology and gave a
psychopath checklist," he said. "At the end, a woman came up and said
'You have just described my boss'."

What Clarke discovered was that the psychopath is not just a
person you find in prison, in a courtroom or in the pages of a
thriller. He or she is scheming in workplaces all over the world.

Research claims that 1 per cent of the adult working
population are workplace psychopaths. In offices large and small,
in boardrooms and on shop floors the psychopath lurks; lying,
cheating, stealing, manipulating, victimising and destroying co-
workers - all without any guilt or remorse.

Worse than that, says Clarke, these so-called organizational
psychopaths thrive in the corporate world where their ruthlessness
and desire to succeed is not only mistaken as ambition and good
leadership skills but is rewarded with promotion, bonuses and pay
rises.

Take for example the average job advertisement, says Clarke. "They
say things like 'You know you are best, you are able to influence
people, you are determined to win at any cost for the organisation.'
These sorts of statements appeal to a lot of people, but they
particularly appeal to the psychopath."

"What an organisation is doing when they place an ad like this, is
indirectly encouraging a psychopath to apply."

In an interview the psychopath is a charmer coming across as the
perfect person for the job.

"They are very good talkers and will often make up things in their
resume so the interview panel is taken in by them," says Clarke.
"They appear to be charming, intelligent and sophisticated and
it is only if you dig a little deeper you can see what sort of person
they are."

The workplace psychopath will do anything to get the power, the
status and the salary they crave.

"The workplace psychopath thinks the same as the criminal
psychopath. They are all out for themselves," says Clarke. "However,
the difference is that where the violent criminal psychopath
physically destroys their victims, the workplace one psychologically
destroys them."

Clarke, a PhD in psychology from the University of Sydney, is the
author of the recently-published The Pocket Pscyho (Random House),
a survival guide on how to protect yourself from the organizational
psychopath.

According to Clarke you can spot the workplace psychopath by the
following behaviour patterns and personality traits.

1. Guiltless: The workplace psychopath shows no remorse no matter
how much they victimize, back-stab or steal credit.

2. Charming: They are very good talkers. They prefer to operate
one-on-one and will avoid group meetings.

3. Manipulative: They bend the corporate systems and rules for
their own advantage. They prey on people's weaknesses, particularly
low self esteem.

4. Parasitic: They take credit for other people's work.

5. Pathological liars: The workplace psychopath is not a good
liar. However, when discovered they can talk their way out of
trouble.

6. Erratic: Psychopaths only experience primary emotions (happy,
sad, anger). They will also shift between emotions very quickly, one
minute being happy, the next being angry and the next sad.

Workplace psychopaths operate by making friends with someone high
up who can protect them. They undermine their boss while at the same
time being friendly towards them and work their way up the corporate
ladder.

For those targeted by the psychopath, the consequences can be
devastating. "They take away people's belief in themselves and their
abilities. They take away their trust in other people," said Clarke.
"The victim becomes cold, cynical, bitter and almost unable to
function."

Clarke says there are two weapons we can use to protect ourselves
from the workplace psycho: education and teamwork.

"If you educate yourself then you recognize why this person is
doing these things to you. This stops the cycle of self-blame and
isolation which victims feel," he said.

"The second thing is team-building and teamwork. You should talk
to other people and tell them what is happening. If a psychopath
can't isolate you, they can't destroy you."

In circumstances when the employer fails to act, Clarke recommends
the victim should move jobs. Why? Because you cannot change a
psychopath, and rehabilitation only makes them worse.

"They don't care. They don't think of themselves as psychopaths.
They don't think they are doing wrong. They just think they are smart
and if everyone else had the same intelligence, they would do the
same thing," says Clarke.
"When you rehabilitate them, you teach them social skills and show
them how to deal with people appropriately. They will then use those
social skills to better manipulate people."

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

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