The Psychopathy Checklist (known as the PCL-R) is a controversial assessment in the criminal justice system because it is meant to determine whether someone is or is not a psychopath. The assessment’s determination can have a massive impact on how they are punished, how long they are sentenced, and whether someone should be eligible for parole (released back into mainstream society following a portion of their punishment). One fascinating aspect of the PCL-R is that many of the traits measured by the assessment, and thus features that purportedly belong to psychopaths, can be seen as positive traits given the right context. And a competitive business environment provides a lot of context.
According to the PCL-R, what defines a typical psychopath is a constellation of features:
- glib and superficial charm
- grandiose (exaggeratedly high) estimation of self
- need for stimulation
- pathological lying
- cunning and manipulativeness
- lack of remorse or guilt
- shallow affect (superficial emotional responsiveness)
- callousness and lack of empathy
- parasitic lifestyle
- poor behavioural controls
- sexual promiscuity
- early behaviour problems
- lack of realistic long-term goals
- impulsivity
- irresponsibility
- failure to accept responsibility for own actions
- many short-term marital relationships
- juvenile delinquency
- revocation of conditional release
- criminal versatility
For the sake of discussion, we bolded the features that are often present among top businesspeople. About five were completely irrelevant because they are purely related to criminal activity, so 10 of the 15 remaining personality traits of a psychopath are present among successful businesspeople. Let’s take a look at these traits and cross-reference them with the behaviours of CEOs.
- glib and superficial charm
- The ability to charm people during superficial, short-term interactions is not just important, but often it is a minimum requirement to achieve success.
- grandiose (exaggeratedly high) estimation of self
- If someone does not believe in themselves, they will hold themselves back. If you have ever seen a TED talk or attended a speech by a successful businessperson, you will see excess self-esteem.
- need for stimulation
- Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos just went to space.
- cunning and manipulativeness
- You can call it “inspiration”, but at the end of the day, you need to get a lot of people to fall in line and do exactly what you want them to do, even if it is not necessarily in their own best interests.
- lack of remorse or guilt
- Most CEOs do not hesitate to accept gigantic bonuses, even if they have to lay off thousands of employees.
- shallow affect (superficial emotional responsiveness)
- Mark Zuckerberg.
- callousness and lack of empathy
- During the pandemic, companies were actively campaigning to have their sectors designated as “essential”, even when dubious, so that they could force their employees to work minimum-wage jobs during dangerous times.
- Impulsivity
- At the highest levels, CEOs have countless issues that pull their attention in a variety of directions at once. They need to make quick, decisive decisions; impulsivity is a prerequisite.
- Irresponsibility
- CEOs of companies that are destroying the planet seem to feel little to no responsibility for the harm they are causing.
- failure to accept responsibility for own actions
- CEOs are quick to accept bonuses but are very slow to step down if their company is not performing.
Based on the PCL-R, it seems that there is a strong argument that successful businesspeople are a little crazy, or at least have a lot in common with psychopaths. The fact of the matter is that successful people are often abnormal. The difference between them and unsuccessful people is that they choose to leverage their abnormalities for personal gain. Maybe it pays to be a little crazy.