Dark and sinister personalities and behaviours are a tasty topic. Many humans enjoy the thrill of a scary, sick horror flick, and, of course, we maximise its impact by watching it in the dark for a classic Friday night fright. It might even interest us to know we have more than likely met or brushed shoulders with an actual psychopath, maybe even a serial killer. Maybe we even work with one (muahahaha). Well, that might be a little too ‘good’ (using that word sarcastically) to be true, but let’s take a few moments to consider the slippery slope of dark personalities in the workplace. (A buddy system might be our next entry for the suggestion box.) [Please note: If you feel threatened or unsafe in your current work environment, seek help through your manager (or their manager if they are your concern), HR, your union, or a therapist. But in an emergency, dial 999. Never put up with something you know is inappropriate or unacceptable. And, absolutely never accept any form of abuse to yourself or someone else by anyone. Help is available for anyone and everyone, including the abuser.] Negativity Starting lightly, there are those we might consider ‘downers’ – maybe they are always grumpy or non-compliant, they sow some discord or incite minor rebellions – negative ‘Nellies/Nigels’. Okay, so we avoid them in the lunchroom, maybe we pretend we don’t see them at the supermarket, or, if cornered, we say we’d like to stay and chat, but we have somewhere (anywhere else) to be. What’s their problem? Life isn’t that hard, right? Maybe it is. For some, it can be. Even Oscar, the Grouch needs a friend. So we try to be empathetic, tolerant, and inclusive (good for us.) But what happens when we start to notice more unsavoury characteristics in the workplace, some of the darker personalities with the top-shelf labels? What are the signs to be wary of? We might ask ourselves: How did they get hired by the company or keep their jobs? Didn’t we all take the same personality or psychometric tests? The thing about personality tests Some firms will have us take these as part of the recruitment/onboarding process as a precautionary measure. Others will have their teams take them as a team-building exercise (when the storm warning signs are already in effect) to try to mitigate fallout among the ranks. Success promotes the darker personalities But personality tests are not perfect. And neither are our views of what success is in the workplace. In fact, success at being so self-confident and self-promotional to win over interviewers can be the first sign of dark personality traits. The way interviews are set up, and even some workplace promotion schemes, reward those darker personalities. A Hogan case study finds, “Derailing tendencies coexist with strong social skills, and are difficult to identify during interviews or with other standard selection methods.” Some of these traits are unpredictability, fault-finding, indifference to requests, passive-aggression, risk-taking, being socially domineering, and micro-management. They are not the most savoury traits for the majority workforce to contend with. But there are surely positives to the negatives. People with dark traits can have positive traits and they can even learn to use their darker strengths in positive ways. The darkest of personalities But the top three disorders, known as the ‘Dark Triad’, can be dangerous, and we should not call them out and confront them at work. The Triad are, and have these traits, according to Simply Psychology: Narcissism – selfish, arrogant, lacking empathy, boastful, and sensitive to criticism and insults, with a strong sense of entitlement and superiority Psychopathy (sociopathy) – antisocial, manipulative, volatile, lacks empathy and remorse, takes risks, and emotionally cold and impulsive Machiavellianism – manipulative, self-interested, lacks emotion and morals, deceitful, and highly cynical. (See the May 2022 newsletter for more information about Machiavellianism and the Dark Triad.) The Simply Psychology article goes on to say, “Individuals with these traits can excel at masking their true nature, especially when first meeting someone,” because of their devil-may-care, “charismatic and charming” way about them. This is dangerous because the recruitment and interview process is their natural playground (or stage). Science Direct talks about the toxic career model and the reason why dark personalities get ahead in the workplace. The ‘core’ of the Dark Triad is a low score in honesty-humility (see the HEXACO Personality Inventory test). These three personality types are extremely manipulative and likely to laugh in the face of industry-standard personality tests. They would probably agree to a polygraph test too (and beat it) because such types excel at the currently accepted characteristics of ‘success’, such as high self-esteem, easy self-promotion, ambition and drive, and they talk a good game. Recognising our shadows Carl Jung said, “Wholeness for humans depends on the ability to own their own shadow.” This is a great reminder of our humanity and that we are all capable of good and evil. Jung reminds us that we have to accept this fact so that we can rise above it. And Erin Doyle Theodorou adds that if we don’t work to recognise and admit our dark side, we will only give it the power to take over. And, we must steer ourselves away from the personal trap of thinking in absolute terms. We are all fallible because we are human (Theodorou Therapy LLC). We, at Innovation & Motivation, concur. We mustn’t enable and empower the dark personality traits to overshadow the good in the workplace, neither ours nor anyone else’s. Always be careful of casting stones in glass houses; remember our human condition to rise above it. In conclusion Dark personality types in the workplace range from disgruntled/grumpy to psychopathic. Some people might have a chip on their shoulders, but they might have been carrying burdens (invisible to us) for too long. They need kindness. But there are others, the’ Jonny/Joanie Badseeds’, that we may not be qualified to help. These people get through the front door because of the way society views ‘success’, the way they are wired, and because they know how to play the ‘game’. We must rethink what success should be and stop enabling and empowering those who would abuse it. It is but a house of cards that we can crumble and reconstruct. However, at the end of the day, we are all human with a binary propensity for both good and evil. Sometimes, it is too much for us to rein in the undesirable other over the more positive aspects of our personalities; and sometimes we need the support to overcome it, be it an empathetic ear, a gentle reminder, or helpful training and personal development. Post navigation What is Machiavellian management – and do you have these traits? How much should your personality come out at work?
