Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work (44 page)

implicit acceptance of, 123, 125

recognizing, 67–68, 133–35

psychological employment contract and, secrecy and, 129–30, 132, 166–68

150–51, 162

social chameleons, 38–39

psychopaths attacking, 299, 300, 317

success requirements, 96

psychopathy and, 19, 124, 299–300

temporary relationships and, 78

reporting abusive behavior and, 313

understanding, for self-defense, 277–78

sociopathy and, 19

manipulation examples

lying

embezzlement case, 63–64

creating doubt and, 51

losing a patsy, 111–14

detecting, 231–32, 287

playing up to power, 128–29, 130

embezzlement case, 63–64

religious affinity fraud, 85–87, 89–91, endless, to gain trust, 50–51

281–82

looking in eyes and, 232

Scott Peterson, 65, 66–67

manipulation and, 50–51

manipulator subtypes (cons), 186–88, 191

overlooked in hiring, 117–18

The Mask of Sanity, 21

on psychological tests, 245–46

masking personalities. See impression

reasons for, 51

management

as red flag, 254–55

medical impropriety, 199

on résumés, 57, 100, 104, 211–13, 214

Meloy, J. Reid, 66, 67, 92–93

to single vs. multiple targets, 88

Meloy, M. J., 92–93

in telephone interviews, 215–16

mimicking

Lynam, Donald, 191

emotions, 54

good performers, 120–21

Machiavellianism, dark triad and, 124–25

social chameleon skills, 38–39

macho psychopaths, 186, 188. See also bullies modesty, inability to experience, 255

managing. See also bosses; leadership

Montgomery, James Alwyn, 287

building rapport and, 315–16

murderers, 64–67, 75, 118–19, 226–27, 228, building relationship with boss and, 316

282–83

change, 155–56, 160

competencies for, 246–48

narcissism, 178

continuously improving skills, 314

dark triad and, 124–25

documenting communication and, 317

psychopathy and, 40–41, 124–25, 178

in entrepreneurial environment, 161–63

narcissistic managers, manipulating, 131–32

performance appraisals and, 317–18

nature or nurture, 24–25

psychopathic subordinates, 313–20

nurse, traveling, case study, 263–69

seeking HR advice and, 318–19

manipulation

oral communication skills

abandonment phase, 53–58, 137–40

facilitating lying, 50–51

abuse and. See abuse

using against people, 38

ascension phase, 140–41

organizational police, 134–35

assessment phase, 43–48

Ortuno, Fabian, 49

attractive targets, 44

charm for, 39, 48–50, 105

parasitic lifestyles, 45–46

of communication networks, 129–30

partners as psychopaths, 286

determining potential gain, 43–44, 74

patrons

evaluating emotional weaknesses/defenses, assessing, 126–27

44–45, 76–78

defined, 126

forging bonds for, 74–79

giving job references, 235

handling. See corporate psychopaths,

internal promotions and, 240, 244

handling; victim responses

losing power/job to psychopaths, 140–41

invisibility of, xiii, xiv

as references, 235

in job interviews, xi, 104–5

patsies

lying and, 50–51

patrons as, 141

manipulation phase, 48–53

pawns as, 138, 177

mounting defense against, 42

responding to realization, 286–88

negative effects of, xiii

seeing through psychopaths, 177, 235, 287

334

Index

Paulhus, Nathanson, 124–25

promotions, 240, 244. See also succession pawns, 139, 286–88

planning systems

abandonment of, 137–38

psychological employment contracts, 150–52, assessing, 127, 257

158–59, 162

former, confronting psychopaths, 139

psychopathic criminals, x. See also fraud; scams giving job references, 235

aggression/violence of, 17–18

manipulation of, 125–27

Andrew Cunanan, 64–65

as patsies, 138, 177

avoiding responsibility, 52

realization by, 138, 286–88

detecting violent tendencies, 65–66

responding to realization, 286–88

diffusing responsibility of, 277–78

supporting psychopaths, 136

falsely expressing remorse, 55–56

performance appraisals, 305–6, 317–18

females, 102

persona (public self), 71

lacking long-term goals, 57–58

defined, 69, 70

murderers, 64–67, 75, 118–19, 226–27,

fictitious. See impression management

228, 282–83

perceptions of, 71. See also reputation plundering with God’s help, 237–38

(attributed personality)

psychopaths who are not, 19–20

psychopaths reinforcing, 74–78

recidivism of, 18

personality, 68–74

Scott Peterson, 65, 66–67

assessments, 73–74

psychopathic fiction, 48–50, 120–21

attributed. See reputation (attributed psychopathic lifestyle, adopting, 43

personality)

psychopathic trait examples. See also charm; balancing positive/negative traits, 70

empathy/emotions, lack of; grandiosity; misalignment of, 73

guilt/remorse, lack of; lying

private (inner), 69–70, 71, 76–78

avoiding responsibility, 51–52, 56–57

psychopaths bonding with, 74–79

multiple short-term relationships, 57

public. See persona (public self)

needing novel stimulation, 46–47, 67

theories, 68–69

parasitic lifestyles, 45–46

personality disorders

taking unethical shortcuts, 46–47

defined, 40

psychopathic traits, 183. See also red flags; narcissism, 40–41, 178

specific traits

personality model, 26–27

in assessment phase, 45–48

Peterson, Scott, 65, 66–67

book delineating, for personal gain, 43

phases, psychopathic. See abandonment phase, B-Scan assessment and, 230–31

of manipulation; ascension phase;

demonstrating, levels of, 178

assessment phase, of manipulation; hiring domains and, 26–27

psychopaths; manipulation

Hervey Cleckley view, 20, 21–22, 23

physical reactions, to psychopaths, 92–93

hiding. See impression management

Pit Bull (Helen) case study, 5–15

in manipulation phase, 48–52, 186–88

commendable performance, 9

mistaking, for leadership, xi, 193–99

dramatic escape attempt, 13, 14

nature, nurture and, 24–25

firing dissenters/others, 12

PCL: SV assessment for, 26–27, 28, 95, fraud revealed, 10, 13–14

100–101, 185, 193

grandiosity, 12–13

PCL-R assessment for, 24–28, 95

hiring process, 8, 9

recognizing, 67–68

intimidating/disrespecting staff, 8–9, 10–13

social chameleons, 38–39

subversive self-promotion, 10

using, consciously, 42–43

unexplained absences, 13

varied expressions of, 184–85

power/strength

psychopathic-like traits

building power base, 122–24

avoiding psychopath labels, 270–71

case study, 131–32

“boss from hell,” 179–81

informal power, 44, 122, 128–29, 131–32

case study illustrating, 173–76

manipulators attracted to, 44

conscientiousness and, 181–82, 208

pawns/patrons and, 125–27

“coworkers from hell,” 181–82

pragmatic psychopathy, 42–43

difficult people vs. psychopaths, 182–85

premise of book, xiv

high-performing executives and, 230–31, 239

pretenders

pervasiveness of, 176–78

in entrepreneurial environment, 164–66

psychopathy. See also corporate psychopaths in leadership, 165–66

ADHD and, 191

secrecy empowering, 166–68

antisocial personality disorder vs., 19

prison, x

callous-unemotional (CU) traits and, 191

private (inner) personality, 69–70, 71, 76–78

conscientiousness and, 181–82, 208

Index

335

consistent psychological makeup of, 183

reputation (attributed personality), 70–74

criminality and. See psychopathic criminals conflicting with /files/02/71/06/f027106/public/private self, 73

dark triad and, 124–25

filtered perceptions of, 71, 72

defined, 19, 21–22

first impressions and, 71

development of, 191

formation of, 70–71

diagnosing, 27–29, 102

protecting. See corporate psychopaths, early studies, 20–23

handling; victim responses

genetic continuity and, 47–48

as psychopath target, 274, 300

jerks and, 318–19

responsibility, avoiding

narcissism and, 40–41, 124–25, 178

blaming others, 51–52, 255–56

physical reactions to, 92–93

elevating self/disparaging others by, 52

predictable outcomes of, 57–58

endless excuses for, 52

reactions to, 92–93, 136–37

manipulation and, 51–52

responding to. See corporate psychopaths, as red flag, 255–56

handling; victim responses

typical cases vs. psychopathic, 56–57

sociopathy vs., 18–19

résumés

statistical estimates of, 177, 193

hirings based on, 104–5

studying, challenge, 241

lies on, 57, 100, 104, 211–13, 214

subtypes, 185

purpose of, 210–11

test scores indicating, 27–29

screening, 103–4, 211–14

uniqueness of, x

soliciting, 210–11

Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version verifying information, 213, 223, 232–34, (PCL: SV), 26–27, 28, 95, 100–101, 185, 235

193

revealing psychopaths. See also abandonment Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R), phase, of manipulation

24–28, 95

detractors and, 133–35

puppetmasters

discrepant views and, 136–37

defined, 190

exposure process, 137–40

immunity to discipline, 192

Richards, Bryan, 89–90, 92

luring unsuspecting into crimes, 275–76

Ridgeway, Gary, 118, 228

story about, 75

Rigas, John, 187

Rigas, Timothy, 187

Rader, Dennis, 118

risk taking

Radler, David, 192

conscientiousness and, 182

Rafay, Atif, 282–83

in entrepreneurial environment, 161

reactions, to psychopaths. See also corporate of great leaders, 196–97

psychopaths, handling; victim responses high, watching out for, 135

initial impressions, 136

inconsistent, 159

mixed, 136–37

of others, for psychopaths, 279–80

physical, 92–93

of psychopaths, 47, 97, 197

reading people, 37–38

Rocancourt, Christopher, 49

recruiters, executive, 241–42

Rockefeller impersonator, 49

red flags, 237, 239, 245, 248–58

Ron, sales psychopath, example, 111–17

disparate treatment of staff, 252–53

Rule, Ann, 118

inability to accept blame, 255–56

inability to act predictably, 256–57

“Sammy the Slimeball” fraud case, 85–87

inability to act without aggression, 258

scams. See also fraud; psychopathic criminals inability to be modest, 255

affinity fraud, 86–87

inability to form teams, 249–50

in chaos after disasters, 45

inability to react calmly, 257–58

diamond smuggler, 72–73

inability to share, 250–52

against elderly, 52–53

inability to tell truth, 254–55

grifters, 276

references, checking, 234–37

Rockefeller impersonator, 49

relationships

three-card monte con (family business), building/maintaining, 301–2

35–37, 297–98

forging, for manipulation, 74–79

screening interview 1, 215–16

one-sided, 78–79

screening interview 2, 216–37. See also hiring psychopathic, uniqueness of, 78–79

practices

short-term/shallow nature of, 57, 78

asking for work samples, 224–25

religious groups, affinity fraud and, 85–87, clarifying details, 225–26

89–91, 281–82

closing, 222

remorse. See guilt/remorse, lack of

controlling, 217, 223–24

336

Index

screening interview (continued )

manipulators (cons), 186–88

detailed questions phase, 219–20

symptoms of, 186–90

evaluating feelings/emotional responses, succession planning systems, 242–45

226–28

assessing candidates, 243–44, 245

focusing on action/behavior, 225

importance of, 209

follow-up concerns phase, 221–22

problems/solutions, 244–45

hidden agendas in, 217

superiority. See grandiosity

hiring manager responsibilities, 216–17

HR staff expectations, 216

teams/teamwork

impressions of candidate, 219

“coworkers from hell” and, 181–82

initial exploration phase, 218–19

evolution/importance of, 151–52

interviewer self-awareness, 231

inability to form, 96, 249–50

mistakes in, 217, 220, 221

performance appraisals and, 306

overt answers in, 219

psychopaths in, 98–101, 123–24, 136,

phases of, described, 218–22

259–62, 291. See also corporate

preparing for, 217–18

psychopaths, handling; victim responses providing information on job/company,

references from teammates, 310