My poolside read this summer was Jon Ronson’s, The Psychopath Test

This intrigued me enough to keep me turning the pages and my inner hypochondriac set me questioning myself (as he pointed out I would) on whether I am a psychopath. Thankfully, I failed the test pretty comprehensively but, worryingly, I know a couple of people who are well set up for an A*.

According to Mr Ronson, that’s not surprising given the field I work in, as about 1% of the population can be diagnosed as a psychopath and that figure rises to around 4% when you’re looking at business leaders and CEOs.

Here’s Jon Ronson’s story:

Leadership Development Training

In many ways the corporate world as we know it rewards psychopathy so what we can learn from that knowledge? I have no wish to encourage cold blooded murder in the board room or messy C-suite carnage but it’s worth looking at how psychopathic traits can be adapted in a benign fashion to underpin an effective leadership style.

Take the Psychopathy Test

This is taken from the Encyclopaedia of Mental Disorders

The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) is a diagnostic tool used to rate a person’s psychopathic or antisocial tendencies. The twenty traits assessed by the PCL-R score are:

(Score 0, 1, or 2 according to how well the trait applies)

• 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 behavioral controls
• sexual promiscuity
• early behavior 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

Results:

A prototypical psychopath would receive a maximum score of 40, while someone with absolutely no psychopathic traits or tendencies would receive a score of zero. A score of 30 or above qualifies a person for a diagnosis of psychopathy. People with no criminal backgrounds normally score around 5. Many non-psychopathic criminal offenders score around 22.

The Positive Behaviours to Learn

There are many business leaders that have been in the news recently (I’m thinking newspaper moguls and banks here…) who can certainly tick a lot of these boxes but how can these traits possibly be turned into positive behaviours we would seek to emulate?

• Charm (We will follow those who have charisma)
• High estimation of self (self belief is crucial – if you don’t believe who will?)
• Need for Stimulation (this creates positive attitude to change, curiosity, inventiveness, and drive)
• Lying (knows what people want to hear)
• Manipulative (influencing and understanding what motivates others)
• Lack of remorse or guilt (willing to take tough decisions)
• Shallow affect (staying objective)
• Lack of empathy (not getting bogged down in sentiment)
• Parasitic lifestyle (willingness to delegate)
• Poor behavioural controls (speaking one’s mind, not afraid to take action)
• Sexual promiscuity (adventurous)
• Early behaviour problems (not following the crowd)
• Lack of realistic long term goals (aware of opportunities as they arise)
• Impulsivity (cuts through red tape)
• Irresponsibility (not frightened of failure)
• Failure to accept responsibility for own actions (holds workforce accountable)
• Many short term marital relationships (embraces change easily)
• Juvenile delinquency (entrepreneurial)
• Revocation of conditional release (persistent)
• Criminal versatility (creative – there’s always another way…

How psychopathic are you?