[acb-hsp] Your Boss Isn't Just a Psychopath

[peter altschul]

Your Boss Isn't Just A Psychopath-It's Way Worse Than That
  Winners at office politics tend to be psychopathic--as well as 
narcissistic and Machiavellian.  These "triads" fly up the 
corporate ladder, but there are ways to minimize their effect on 
your success and happiness.
  It's estimated that 3 million Americans are 
psychopathic--meaning they display callous or non-empathetic 
tendencies; that, perhaps one in 10 on Wall Street are; and even 
suggested that a touch of psychopathy may even be necessary to 
reach the top.
  Psychopaths are also likely to be narcissistic (self-loving) or 
to have a Machiavellian streak (detachment, liking for 
games-playing).  These days, more and more people are "triadic," 
says British psychologist Oliver James--meaning the people in 
your office have all three disorders at the same time.
  James blames the changing nature of work.  In the past, jobs 
were straightforward: you made stuff, and you were compensated 
accordingly.  Now, in many service industries (PR, finance, TV) 
it is hard to say who should take credit.  Triads thrive with 
such ambiguity, mastering how to accentuate their part in the 
positive, while downplaying their negatives.
  "The perception of what you've contributed becomes as important 
as what you've actually done," James says.  "Whether you get 
promoted and how much you get paid depends largely on the 
subjective valuation of your boss.  That means that office 
politics becomes more important.  Making your boss like you, and 
encouraging them to believe you are doing a good job, is as 
important as actually doing a good job."
  In his new book, "Office Politics James says we need to be 
better at spotting dangerous types (dangerous to our careers), 
and understand that such people are likely to lie and say nasty 
things behind our back.  "Whether you work in the corporate 
sector, a small business or a public sector job, the system you 
are in is liable to reward ruthless, selfish manipulation," he 
says.  "The likelihood of your daily working life being 
sacrificed by a person who is some mixture of psychopathic, 
Machiavellian and narcissistic is high.  If you do not develop 
the skills to deal with them, they will eat you for breakfast."
  James interviews 50 people, including narcissists, psychopaths 
and Machiavels, and people who play office politics well.  For 
example, James profiles a New York broker who deceives his boss 
into thinking he understands a complex financial instrument (it 
sounds familiar).  The broker's method is to use phrases like 
"correlation co-efficient" (that we think we might understand, 
but don't), and drop that he has an old-money background.  "Jan" 
a respected professor, has a second-rate mind, but "a great 
talent for acquiring, and taking credit for, others' ideas."
  James says people need four skills for office politics:
  * Astuteness: "being able to read others, your organization and 
yourself" (helps size up the lay of the land) * Effectiveness: 
finding the right tactics, and "choosing the right moment and 
performing the words and deeds effectively, always 
withdddddeliberate pretenses and acting" * Networking: 
maintaining relationships, so you have allies, and can move into 
another position, if necessary * The Appearance of Sincerity: you 
want to be yourself.  But sometimes you create an impression that 
just seems sincere.
  In other words, you need to be just sta littlest like the 
triads to work among triads.  "The people who are pious and say 
'I don't believe in that kind of thingb are just lying to 
themselves," says James.  "We are all office politicians.  One in 
five communications are untrue."
  "It's no good if you're acting all the time.  There needs to be 
a connection between who you are and who you are acting.  But, at 
times, you need to put on a performance."
  James reckons that people who are able to play office politics 
not spitefully, but consciously, deliberately, and playfully, 
stand the best chance of survival.  He believes in fact that the 
art is strongly related to emotional health (his main interest).  
If you don't play the game, he says, you're liable to get 
steamrollered--in your career, and emotionally-speaking.
  Ben Schiller is a staff writer for CoddExist, and also 
contributes to the FT, and Yale e360.
  Copyright 2013 Mansueto Ventures, LLC.