This literature review delves into researching how narcissistic leadership can be a precursor to the erosion of follower self-worth and efficacy. If a leader wishes for their organization to be better, they require superior followership. Some people will follow a leader into the abyss while others demand their leader prove his worth. Leadership is not an innate skill; it must be learned and refined in order to ascend to the highest organizational levels. The method which a follower takes to become a leader creates a blueprint for others to emulate and further continued success, or construct a roadmap to failure.
One type of leader is narcissistic. This is an individual who may be visionary, charismatic, or both and probably very confident and self-sufficient. Narcissistic leadership can be considered toxic and emanates in many forms that vary from constructive to destructive. Constructive narcissism “has been associated with productivity and innovation. In contrast, the destructive narcissist brings to adulthood ‘feelings of deprivation, insecurity and inadequacy’ and potentially serious compromises of individual and organizational performance” (Godkin & Alcorn, 2011, p. 559). For the purposes of this paper, toxic leadership is defined as an individual that exhibits destructive narcissistic traits and an authoritarian leadership style.
A constructive narcissist can rally people to a cause and make societal changes for the better. The destructive narcissist tears down anything in their path to ensure they earn what they believe to be all due praise, despite assistance from followers. All of these leaders can create some of the most wondrous gifts to mankind, or be self-serving and substitute their own values and norms in place of the organization that employs them. Both types of narcissistic leaders are prevalent in today’s workforce.
Most followers experience a form of toxic leadership in their career. This narcissistic leadership style can be most difficult to cope with and takes a strong person to overcome its effects. An insecure person would be more susceptible to narcissistic abuses and would not defend themselves against antagonism. They become targets of abuse and eventually lose not only their self-esteem and subsequently their self-efficacy. Therefore, I believe the negative characteristics of narcissistic leadership outweigh the positive characteristics. These traits damage to relationships which erode follower self-efficacy and self-worth.
According to the Mayo Clinic (2017), narcissism is a personality disorder (para.1). This could very well be caused by parenting (such as nurture versus nature) or role model emulation during the person’s early developmental stages. When a person feels that their own entitlement and superiority is greater than the people that work for him, problems are bound to occur. While followers with high self-esteem may gravitate to a narcissistic leader, followers with low self-esteem are more insecure and need the support this type of leader would not provide.
Narcissistic leader traits. According to Kubarych, Aggen, Kendler, Torgersen, Reichborn-Kjennerud, & Neale, (2010), an individual must meet 5 of 9 of the following conditions from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV to be clinically diagnosed a narcissist:
- Grandiose sense of self-importance
- Preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
- Believes he or she is special and unique
- Requires excessive admiration
- Sense of entitlement and interpersonally exploitative
- Taking advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
- Lacks empathy
- Often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
- Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes (p. 157)
I conducted a personal interview with Vicky Joseph. She is a licensed psychiatric social worker and majored in Psychiatric Social Work and Mental Illnesses in Adults at the University of Cincinnati. She is also a Certified Cognitive Behavioral Therapist at California State Prison, Solano in Vacaville, CA. Working with adults suffering from mental disorders has been her entire adult life’s focus. When asked if there was anyone we could readily identify that meets the criteria of all nine conditions, her immediate answer was President Donald Trump. She stated that he meets more conditions for mental illness based on multiple criteria than on observations she has had with any prisoner she has personally diagnosed. She stated “President Trump is about as bad as it gets with regard to mental disorders. No wonder he has difficulty maintaining loyalty from the people he hires. He refuses to acknowledge his own faults and blames others when matters go astray.”
Leaders can be highly critical when leading and developing followers. Their traits can be very destructive to interactions with those they lead. Negative traits include selfishness, overconfidence, inconsistency, and unsupportiveness. Leaders should support employees since followers enable a leader to become successful. However, negative traits tear down relationships and are divisive (Martin, Naylor, Jefferson, David, & Cavazos, 2015, p. 36). Maccoby (2004) and Stein (2013) refer to other traits such as the inability to take criticism, poor listening, distaste for mentoring and only being interested in their own contributions.
Chen (2016) states, “narcissism is a dark trait that is characterized by arrogance, self-absorption, entitlement, self-esteem, and hostility” (p. 1913). These types of traits would not normally be the type that an individual would sign up for. Typically, a follower wants to know that his ideas count for something and that there are rewards down the line for the hard work that will be put in to make the organization successful.
Narcissistic leadership undermines or limits subordinate controls or decision-making processes. Narcissistic leaders are hoarders of information and do not allow followers to fully become part of the process, inhibiting group dynamics and performance. They feel a need for glory and may employ unethical behavior to achieve their goals. Narcissistic leaders are more controlling and less supportive of their employees. They are antagonistic, egocentric, and lack empathy.
Very often, there is incongruence between personal values and organizational values which results in negative work attitudes and outcomes. When referring to the Mayo Clinic definition, it is easy to see how this type of leadership can damage an organization by curbing enthusiasm, creativity, autonomy, and expression. The wrong type of leader may scar or retard follower growth. In short, a narcissistic leader is mainly interested in himself and his successes, not his followers. If the leader only gets what he wants and does not allow a person to earn their successes, why would they stay on? It is important for trust to be developed between the leader and his subordinates. This trust enables people to know their contributions are not only appreciated but can also be effective.
Negative outcomes from a reduced sense of self-worth and efficacy. An individual’s motivation to succeed and become a leader can be negatively impacted and influenced by the traits of the leader. These leaders seek methods to enrich their standing in the organization while frequently ensuring followers are not recognized for their contributions. When an employee feels undervalued or not given credit where it is due, attitudes often go from enthusiastic to humdrum. Additionally, performance wanes and does not carry the same passion.
Frequently, narcissists take the ideas of others and pass them forward as their own to gain recognition and acclaim. An Apple employee reported Steve Jobs was much like this. According to Grijalva and Harms (2014), this person (Jef Raskin) reported that Jobs would very often dismiss an idea that was stupid, but later present it as his own (p. 108). “Narcissistic individuals are likely to view others’ advice as useless and inaccurate; which, in turn, would lead them to avoid using advice when making decisions” (Kausel, Culbertson, Leiva, Slaughter, & Jackson, 2015, p. 35). If team members perceive they are not valued, they are more than likely to withhold ideas and be less productive than they otherwise might.
Destructive narcissism may lead to leader tyranny and abusive supervision. Numerous authors confirm through their research that taking undue credit is a narcissistic trait that can result in abusive supervision. According to Keller Hansbrough and Jones (2014), “Abusive supervision is defined as ‘subordinates’ perceptions of the extent to which supervisors engage in the sustained display of hostile verbal and nonverbal behaviors excluding physical contact” (p. 214). Narcissistic leaders often resort to abusive supervision and could inevitably cause an organization’s best talent to seek employment elsewhere. Keller Hansbrough & Jones (2014) infer that abusive supervision results in employee dissatisfaction with their jobs and reduced job retention. “Behaviors include angry outbursts, public ridiculing, taking credit for subordinates’ success and scapegoating subordinates” (Keller Hansbrough, & Jones, 2014, p. 214).
Narcissists can be leaders. For better or worse, many narcissistic leaders have gained fame and achieved greatness resulting from their accomplishments. We have seen their names printed in historical context and read about their exploits. For example, General George Washington and General Benedict Arnold were both leaders in the Continental Army. Both were recognized to be brilliant men and were determined to fight the war as they saw fit. Their lasting effects on their organizations and the history they made are eternal. Morin (2014) lists Washington 19th on the Pew Research Center’s list of most narcissistic presidents.
He used his soldiers to benefit the revolutionary cause and he went on to become the country’s first president. General Arnold’s name became synonymous with being a traitor. Their effectiveness may be distinguished by the level of narcissism within the individual. “A curvilinear relationship emerged according to which leaders with a midrange level of narcissism exhibited greater effectiveness than those with low or high levels of narcissism” (Fatfouta, 2018, p. 4). There are many such leaders throughout history.
The modern era includes many narcissistic leaders such as United States presidents, business entrepreneurs, people with celebrity status, and professional athletes. Good leaders can produce bad results, while bad leaders can produce desirable results. Whereas Jobs’ narcissism led to him being fired from his own company, he came back with an understanding of how that narcissism played a negative role and he made some appropriate changes. Those changes helped Apple become one of the world’s predominant technological giants. A sense that a person’s own vision will enable a company to flourish is high on a narcissists list of traits and can carry them to greatness.
Additionally, people such as Adolph Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Emperor Nero of Rome were also able to rally people to their cause. They had high levels of narcissism, but history may have a different interpretation of their overall effectiveness than they did.
Followers need to find strategies for coping with the loss of self-worth and efficacy. If a follower is one that has low self-esteem, dealing with any form of toxic leadership is difficult to overcome and be productive. “The most frequently reported ways of coping when dealing with toxic leadership were as follows: seeking social support, leaving the organization or taking leave, ruminating and challenging the leader” (Webster, Brough, & Daly, 2014, p. 349). “Two well-established classifications of coping behavior revolve around approach versus avoidance coping strategies (i.e., whether behavior is directed toward or away from the source of stress; and problem-versus emotion-focused strategies” (May, Wesche, Heinitz, & Kerschreiter, 2014, p. 205).
Organizations and followers allow narcissistic leaders to flourish. How does this happen? Quite possibly the outcomes of organizational projects may be of such quality and importance that leaders look the other way. Is it possible that this behavior may result in a task or result-oriented value system that rewards the ends with no regard for the means used? “There is a point up to which tyranny is tolerated because it creates the kinds of outcomes society desires, such as industry standardization, even as it creates outcomes society abhors, such as stifling homogeneity” (Ma, Karri, & Chittipeddi, 2004, p. 34). The long-term consequence of this behavior may be an observation that the organization values outcomes over procedures and individuals. Moreover, it may persuade employees that the establishment lacks the will or the ability to eliminate the source of the problems, even when they diminish performance. Social justice becomes another victim.
Followers may withhold grievances about narcissistic leadership and fail to report negative or abusive supervision, possibly fearing whistleblower retaliation. “Abused subordinates rarely report or retaliate against their higher-status supervisors because they are dependent on their supervisors for desirable resources such as continued employment and advancement opportunities” (Xu, Loi, & Lam, 2015, p. 763). When that happens, an abusive leader can trumpet his intent without fear of reprisal. An unbridled leader who promotes self-grandeur and takes all the credit but deflects all the blame may completely abolish trust as a cornerstone between leaders and employees. Destructive narcissists are able to manipulate events to their favor, leaving followers with no option but to pick up the pieces if organizational projects fall apart.
Ways to offset or reduce this narcissistic leadership in organizations. Grijalva & Harms (2014) allude to methods for organizations to combat the harmful effects of narcissistic employees. These methods are similar to those employed by the U.S. Air Force. Documenting disruptive behaviors not only provides organizations with ammunition against employee challenges but also provides a means for dismissal should the need arise. “Because narcissists often perceive their abilities inaccurately and distort recollections of past events, in the event of negative behavior, supervisors should confront them with specific, behavior-based feedback and carefully explain decision-making processes that led to disciplinary actions” (Grijalva & Harms, 2014, p. 114). Counseling from leadership for egregious offenses must be enforced with the upfront knowledge that further offenses could lead to reprimand and possible termination. Finally, educational opportunities for leadership should be provided.
As a result of researching the literature, the negative characteristics of narcissistic leadership outweigh the positive characteristics. Most people have some level of narcissism, we all believe that we are very good at something and should be praised for it occasionally. However, there is a place for the positive characteristics based on the environment and the level of narcissism within the leader. One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch, and a leader that exhibits destructive narcissistic behavior can derail an organization. This can be accomplished quickly by substituting his norms and values over the organization’s values and norms, undermining its culture. Employees can suffer reduced self-esteem and efficacy as a result, and organizations may lose some of their best talents.
Individuals should learn how to trust their subordinates very early on. When trust is not part of the solution between the leader/follower dynamic, difficulties may arise. This includes but is not limited to micro-management and not using the followers and their diverse backgrounds to come up with solutions to a myriad of issues. A leader should not do everything in the shop. Trust must be a part of the equation.
There is no “I” in team, but there are two in the narcissist. Any chance a leader has to gain favor with higher management should be taken advantage of, but not at the expense of the team. If an organization is going to survive and flourish, education in leadership and proper institutional practices should be made a part of achieving higher-level positions. Without this, a narcissistic leader will be able to isolate their practices and will not earn follower loyalty.
Any perception of unfairness or bias needs to eliminate employee concerns about fairness. When an idea is passed to supervision, credit must be given where it originates. Employees cannot flourish in an environment that permits supervisors to take what is not given them. Reprisal actions against whistleblowers should not be in company policies but should be encouraged which would allow promotion to the right people. If this exposes the narcissistic leader to be a fraud, it would serve the organization to remove the individual in favor of other more well-deserving individuals.
