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Narcissism and Leadership
Anna Z. Czarna
1
and Barbara Nevicka
2
1
Institute of Applied Psychology, Faculty of
Management and Social Communication,
Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
2
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social and
Behavioural Sciences, University of Amsterdam,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Synonyms
Dark triad and leadership;Destructive leadership;
Narcissism and power;Narcissistic leaders
Definition
Close your eyes and imagine an ideal leader. What
would that image look like? What kind of charac-
teristics come to mind? Dominance, confidence,
high self-esteem, and extraversion are character-
istics that are most commonly associated with
people’s image of a leader. Interestingly, narcis-
sistic individuals fit this leader image fairly well,
which might explain why they tend to emerge as
leaders in groups. However, merely rising to a
leadership position is not enough –it matters
whether narcissists are effective as leaders. Impor-
tantly, in addition to their leader-like characteris-
tics, narcissists possess a host of negative
characteristics, such as lack of empathy,
exploitativeness, arrogance, inability to deal with
criticism, and aggressive tendencies. It is because
of these characteristics that the behavior of narcis-
sistic leaders can have negative ramifications for
their subordinates, their organizations, or even
society at large. In this chapter, we argue that in
order to determine whether and when narcissistic
leaders are a positive or negative force for those
they lead it is imperative to consider contextual
factors such as time in leadership position, con-
textual uncertainty, type of industry, leader’s vis-
ibility and ethical climate in the organization, and
characteristics of the followers.
Introduction
Narcissism as a personality trait constitutes a self-
centered, self-aggrandizing, dominant, and
manipulative interpersonal orientation (Sedikides
et al. 2004). It is characterized by a grandiose, yet
fragile, sense of self, a preoccupation with suc-
cess, a demand for admiration, and engagement in
self-enhancement and by difficulties in
maintaining interpersonal relationships due to a
lack of empathy, trust, and care for others (Morf
and Rhodewalt 2001). Narcissistic individuals
perceive themselves to be special and unique.
They tend to overestimate their abilities in the
agentic domain, for example, by believing that
they are more intelligent, more creative, and
more attractive and have better leadership poten-
tial than others. In their quest for power, attention,
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
V. Zeigler-Hill, T. K. Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_2334-1
and a desire to show-off their abilities, narcissistic
individuals have a natural propensity to seek out
leadership positions (Morf and Rhodewalt 2001).
In fact, they dislike being followers unless they
are confident that they can rise through the ranks
(Zitek and Jordan 2016). Research shows that
they succeed in emerging as leaders in groups
(Grijalva et al. 2015), particularly in times of
uncertainty (Nevicka et al. 2013). The question
is what prompts people to choose narcissists as
leaders and what kind of leaders are they once
they have attained a leadership position.
We should note that this chapter will focus on
the grandiose rather than vulnerable dimension of
narcissism. Grandiose narcissism is identified by
externalizing features such as confidence, domi-
nance, and extraversion. In contrast, vulnerable
narcissism is identified by internalizing features
such as introversion, low self-esteem, and high
emotional distress (Miller et al. 2017). Given the
commonality between characteristics related to
grandiose narcissism and those associated with
prototypical leaders, grandiose narcissism is
more relevant for leadership. For example, prior
research found that past US presidents had above
average grandiose but not vulnerable narcissism
in comparison to the general population (Watts
et al. 2013). Additionally, grandiose but not vul-
nerable narcissism was related to leadership effec-
tiveness indicators.
Narcissism and Leadership Emergence
Theory on the leadership outcomes of narcissism
(e.g., Campbell et al. 2011; Padilla et al. 2007;
Sedikides and Campbell 2017) has clearly differ-
entiated between narcissistic leadership emer-
gence and narcissistic leadership effectiveness.
One reason why narcissistic individuals might
often be chosen as leaders is because they appear
to personify people’s implicit ideas of what con-
stitutes a leader. The implicit leadership theory
(Lord and Maher 1991) posits that the greater
the overlap between someone’s characteristics
and people’s implicit leadership schemas (i.e.,
leader prototypes), the more likely that person
will be perceived as a leader. In other words,
because narcissistic characteristics such as domi-
nance, confidence, extraversion, and high self-
esteem match well onto prototypical leadership
schemas, narcissists are perceived as having
leader-like qualities and thus emerge as leaders
(Sedikides and Campbell 2017).
Another reason that could explain why people
prefer narcissists in leadership positions is that
narcissists tend to make positive first impressions
(Ong et al. 2016), which may be especially helpful
in short-term evaluative contexts such as inter-
views. Narcissists’positive initial impressions
may be driven by others’perceptions that they
have high self-esteem (Giacomin and Jordan
2018). This can happen because of the self-
broadcasting function of self-esteem: others tend
to accept the self-evaluations expressed in peo-
ple’s social behavior as valid and reliable sources
of information. Thus, increases in self-esteem lead
to increases in a person’s popularity as judged by
others (Zeigler-Hill et al. 2013). These positive
initial impressions could enable narcissists to
obtain overly favorable hireability ratings despite
lacking adequate qualifications and despite their
many negative characteristics. Indeed, prior
research found that at the time of being hired as
managers, narcissistic individuals had less orga-
nizational experience, an important criterion for
that job (Nevicka et al. 2018b). Therefore, what
seems to spur narcissists’rise to leadership posi-
tions is their own determination to attain such
positions of power, the overlap between their
own and prototypical leader characteristics, and
the positive impressions that they tend to engen-
der in the short term.
Whereas the rise of narcissists as leaders has
been well documented and understood, research
on the impact of narcissists in leadership positions
on those they lead has shown mixed findings. In
the next section, we focus on what kind of leaders
narcissists are, once they attain positions of
power.
Narcissism and Leadership Effectiveness
Narcissistic individuals have both potentially pos-
itive (e.g., charisma, bold vision, motivation to
2 Narcissism and Leadership
perform, risk-taking) and potentially negative
characteristics (e.g., lack of empathy, exploita-
tiveness, egocentrism, hostility, unethical tenden-
cies, risk-taking), and this mixed palette of
characteristics might differentially determine
whether they are effective or ineffective as
leaders. Researchers argue that narcissism can,
in some cases, benefit not only the narcissistic
person themselves but the organization as a
whole (Chatterjee and Hambrick 2007; Sedikides
and Campbell 2017). For instance, if narcissists
are satisfied with their job and feel secure in their
position of authority, they are capable of excelling
in job performance (Campbell et al. 2011), espe-
cially when they perceive the context as an oppor-
tunity to show off their superior skills (Wallace
and Baumeister 2002). Such contexts need to
encompass pressure, challenge, and an evaluative
audience in order to motivate narcissistic individ-
uals to perform, and these are exactly the ingredi-
ents that can be found in leadership positions.
Additionally, there is some evidence that follow-
ing an ego threat (e.g., being told that one is
average rather than unique) narcissism can actu-
ally fuel performance because narcissists want to
demonstrate their superior qualities as a means of
countering the ego threat (Nevicka et al. 2016).
Therefore, narcissists need to showcase their
uniqueness, and their superior abilities might
actually motivate them to perform well. In turn
this achievement focus could help galvanize their
employees in their performance.
Another potential advantage to having narcis-
sistic leaders lies in narcissists’social network
centrality and penchant for social media use. Nar-
cissistic leaders seem to amass social capital (Liu
et al. 2016) and may, thus, be well suited for the
creation and expansion of social network oppor-
tunities that are likely to benefit the organization
(e.g., linking organizational interests to those of
other organizations, introducing key staff to peers
from other organizations). Their networking abil-
ity may help revitalize the organization and set the
stage for showcasing transformational leadership.
Narcissists have been found to project bold
visions and are perceived as charismatic
(Nevicka et al. 2018b), which could inspire sub-
ordinates and motivate them to work toward
common goals. Narcissists’charisma and enthu-
siasm may even help advocate successful organi-
zational change by allowing them to act as change
agents and idea champions (Campbell et al. 2011).
There is some empirical support for these
proposals.
For instance, CEO narcissism was positively
related to strategic dynamism and to the number
or size of acquisitions (Chatterjee and Hambrick
2007), which is indicative of narcissists’bold and
risky decision-making and early successes
(Sedikides and Campbell 2017). While risk-
taking could be advantageous in terms of pre-
venting organizational stagnation and promoting
innovation, it can also lead to more volatility.
Indeed, Chatterjee and Hambrick (2007) found
that CEO narcissism was also positively related
to unpredictable and irregular company perfor-
mance (i.e., big wins, big losses) as measured by
financial outcomes, such as return on investment
and shareholder returns. Due to the extreme fluc-
tuations in performance, overall, companies under
narcissistic CEOs did not do better than compa-
nies under less narcissistic CEOs. In terms of
innovation, companies led by narcissistic CEOs
exhibited a higher rate of new product introduc-
tions and a greater proportion of radical innova-
tions in their new product portfolios, but they
were also more likely to encounter product harm
crises, such as product recall (Kashmiri et al.
2017). The impact of CEO narcissism on these
innovation outcomes was partially explained by
firms’higher competitive aggressiveness.
In terms of the potential negative impact of
narcissistic leaders, narcissists’particular weak
point is their difficulty in maintaining positive
interpersonal relationships over time. For exam-
ple, supervisors of narcissistic employees rated
them negatively on the interpersonal components
of leadership but not on task-specific aspects of
leadership (Blair et al. 2008). Given that the most
toxic characteristics of narcissistic individuals
pertain to the interpersonal domain, the manifes-
tation of these characteristics will probably dis-
proportionately affect those they lead. Narcissistic
leaders can cause employee distress because they
lack empathy (e.g., Böckler et al. 2017), expect
others to strive for perfection and be perfect, and
Narcissism and Leadership 3
are highly critical of others (but not of themselves;
Stoeber et al. 2015). Further, narcissists derogate
others and may react with rage when insulted or
threatened (Bushman and Baumeister 1998),
while also lashing out at innocent others (i.e.,
displaced aggression) when rejected (Twenge
and Campbell 2003, Study 4). Consistent with
this, narcissists show a preference for using an
autocratic leadership style particularly in ego-
threatening circumstances (Schoel et al. 2015)
by means of which they attempt to solidify their
power and control over others. Remarkably, nar-
cissists disparage others even in the absence of
self-threat (Park and Colvin 2015). Such mistreat-
ment may lead to employee feelings of humilia-
tion or hopelessness (Herschcovis and Barling
2010), stress or job dissatisfaction, job burnout
(Fox and Stallworth 2010), and turnover inten-
tions (Tepper et al. 2009; Sedikides and Campbell
2017). Indeed, narcissists have been found to con-
stitute poor mentors, with protégés opting for
shorter-term relationships with them and
reporting less psychosocial or career support as
well as more negative mentoring experiences
(Allen et al. 2009).
In addition to affecting the well-being of fol-
lowers, narcissists’pattern of resisting and
devaluing others’input and advice and shutting
down employee voice can have direct negative
consequences on organizational performance
(Kausel et al. 2015; Maccoby 2000; Rosenthal
and Pittinsky 2006). For example, in a decision-
making task, narcissistic leaders were found to
inhibit group-level information exchange, which
in turn reduced the quality of team decision-
making (Nevicka et al. 2011).
Another negative aspect of narcissistic individ-
uals includes their propensity to behave
unethically. Prior research has linked narcissistic
leaders to unethical behavior (Amernic and Craig
2010; Blickle et al. 2006; Sedikides and Campbell
2017; Watts et al. 2013). Furthermore, their
unethical behavior has a demoralizing effect on
other employees. Narcissists rely on unfair ineq-
uitable exchanges to achieve desired outcomes,
and because in an organizational context they are
embedded in a network and interconnected with
other employees, their unethical tendencies can
have a ripple effect on others (O’Boyle et al.
2012). Therefore, their low ethics might have
extended detrimental influence: it can contami-
nate others if left unchecked. Unethical
employees tend to create an organizational culture
where unethical behavior becomes the norm,
especially when leaders or authority figures are
misbehaving (Kish-Gephart et al. 2010).
Indeed, narcissists often seem to derail in terms
of ethics when in position of authority (Judge et al.
2009;O’Boyle et al. 2012). Results of a meta-
analysis show that for individuals in positions of
authority, such as managers, leaders, police, and
correctional officers, the higher their level of nar-
cissism, the worse their job performance
(O’Boyle et al. 2012), and researchers argue that
this is because of narcissists’unethical, self-
serving, arrogant, and impulsive behaviors.
Thus, this relationship might be explained by
poor quality of interpersonal relationships and
poor decision-making. The functioning of subor-
dinates might also suffer due to narcissistic
leaders’unethical tendencies. As leaders, narcis-
sists seem to direct interpersonal deviance toward
their subordinates as means to achieving their
goals: they regularly belittled their subordinates
and exploited their insecurities in an attempt to
minimize negative feedback and create dependen-
cies (Grijalva and Harms 2014; House and Howell
1992). For instance, using a sample of athletes and
accredited coaches, Matosic et al. (2016) showed
that coach narcissism was directly and positively
associated with athletes’perceptions of control-
ling behaviors and more positive attitudes toward
doping and was indirectly and positively associ-
ated with athletes’reports of frustration of needs
for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
Moreover, leaders’narcissism was associated
with the frustration of followers’psychological
needs such as needs for autonomy, competence,
and relatedness (Matosic et al. 2016).
Narcissistic Leaders and the Importance
of Context
Given the aforementioned mixture of potentially
positive as well as potentially negative
4 Narcissism and Leadership
characteristics inherent in narcissistic leaders, in
order to determine whether and when narcissistic
leaders are a positive or negative force for those
they lead, it is important to consider contextual
factors. One such factor is the progression of time.
According to the contextual reinforcement model
(Campbell et al. 2011), leader narcissism is benefi-
cial in the “emerging zone”(i.e., in new leadership
positions, short-term contexts) and harmful in the
“enduring zone”(i.e., long-held leadership posi-
tions, long-term contexts). The problem, however,
is that emerging situations become enduring, and
over time the more toxic aspects of narcissistic
leaders may overshadow their charisma and confi-
dencethatseemedsoalluringintheshortterm.For
example, narcissists’overconfidence can lead to
reckless risk-taking, which in the long term could
have negative financial ramifications for the
organization.
The more recent Sedikides and Campbell
(2017) Energy Clash Model (ECM) further refines
the dynamics of interplay between narcissistic
leaders and organizations. It outlines the narcis-
sistic organizational trajectory using phase/state
physics metaphor. Narcissism is conceptualized
as a force that enters into or emerges in a stable
system (i.e., organization) as a leader, destabilizes
it through waves of excitement, proposed reforms,
and an inspiring vision for organization’s future
(perturbation). Next, with the passage of time, as
organizational costs –in terms of human
resources and monetary losses due to their risky
financial and unethical decisions –accrue and
systemic awareness and alertness intensify, it
meets resistance and clashes directly with the
organization (conflict) and stabilizes it at a differ-
ent state (when the leader is accommodated) or is
expelled (resolution). Thus, the idea is that over
time those who are led by the narcissistic leader as
well as other members of the organization become
aware of narcissistic leader’s toxic characteristics,
such as their lack of empathy, hostility, dismissal
of expert advice, and inability to deal with criti-
cism and their unethical inclinations. Research
has indeed shown that while narcissists make
positive first impressions because of their charm
and humor, these evaluations deteriorate over time
as others become aware of narcissists’negative
characteristics. Consequently, narcissists’popu-
larity as well as leadership status decreases
(Czarna et al. 2016; Leckelt et al. 2015; Ong
et al. 2016). In turn the organization is then
required to deal with such a leader and can either
try to accommodate their presence (e.g., enhanc-
ing accountability measures, trying to ensure
goal-congruency between the leader’s and orga-
nizational interests) or get rid of the narcissistic
leader altogether. Narcissists’impulsivity might
even mean that they leave of their own accord
when they get bored.
In both of these theoretical models, time played
a crucial role in the typical “trajectory”of a nar-
cissistic leader, initially accompanying him/her to
heights of popularity and effectiveness and then
back to the bottom. Research examining other
contextual factors has further distilled the circum-
stances that are most favorable (or unfavorable) to
the effectiveness of narcissistic leaders. In partic-
ular, times of uncertainty appeared to be conve-
nient to narcissistic individuals, serving as a
catalyst in their emergence to leadership positions
and as a reinforcement of their effectiveness. Nar-
cissistic leaders bring confidence, toughness,
boldness, vision, and innovation into the
decision-making process, which might be espe-
cially valued in times of organizational uncer-
tainty, i.e., lost market share, unpredictable work
environment, and high employee stress (Campbell
et al. 2011; Nevicka et al. 2013; Sedikides and
Campbell 2017). In times of uncertainty or crises,
narcissists might be perceived as suitable leaders
because they seem capable of reducing the
uncertainty.
It is also possible that narcissistic leaders are
more effective in specific types of industries but
ineffective in others. For example, they may be
effective in dynamic, high-discretion industries as
fashion, media, or entertainment but may be inef-
fective in stable, low-discretion industries such as
insurance or utilities (Chatterjee and Hambrick
2007). They may likewise be effective in domains
where confidence, persuasiveness, extraversion,
and self-absorption are highly relevant (e.g.,
sales and academia; Sedikides and Campbell
2017) but ineffective in domains that require rela-
tionship building and trust (e.g., life-saving,
Narcissism and Leadership 5
nursing; Rosenthal and Pittinsky 2006). Finally,
they may be effective in domains that reward self-
promotion and manipulativeness (e.g., politics;
Watts et al. 2013).
Ethical climate of an organization is another
contextual factor crucial for the effectiveness of
narcissistic leaders. As mentioned before, narcis-
sistic leaders’unethical behavior might have an
extended detrimental influence on the organiza-
tion via role modeling. By setting a poor example,
narcissistic leaders may negatively impact the
culture of an organization by changing its ethical
climate. Thus, unsurprisingly, organizations with
a lower ethical climate become more hospitable
for narcissistic leaders. Research found that the
deleterious effects of narcissism on ethical leader-
ship became more pronounced and salient in
highly ethical contexts but remained undetectable
in unethical contexts (Hoffman et al. 2013).
Although the presence of an ethical climate does
not prevent unscrupulous behaviors of narcissistic
leaders from occurring, it does make them more
visible and, therefore, detectable to other group
members. With regard to visibility of narcissistic
leaders’behavior, prior research similarly found
that leader distance influenced the perceived
effectiveness of narcissistic leaders (Nevicka
et al. 2018b). When followers had fewer opportu-
nities to observe their leader’s behavior and thus
had less exposure to their toxic characteristics, for
example, due to a greater number of hierarchical
levels between the leader and the follower, they
perceived narcissistic leaders as effective and
reported positive job attitudes. However, this pos-
itive relationship disappeared when the leader was
more visible to the followers. Related to this,
organizations with narcissistic CEOs have been
found to have a higher manager turnover (Resick
et al. 2009). This again could stem from the fact
that narcissists’toxic characteristics would be
especially potent for those who are most proximal
to them in the workplace, namely, their direct
subordinates.
Interestingly, recent research suggests that
despite these toxic behaviors, leaders’narcissism
might actually benefit the objective and subjective
career success of certain subordinates and might
have no adverse effects on their well-being
(Volmer et al. 2016). It is plausible that by pro-
moting their subordinates’careers narcissistic
leaders attempt to retain loyal subordinates in
order to obtain continuing admiration and grati-
tude from them, essentially using them as “narcis-
sistic supplies.”These followers would then
benefit indirectly from the narcissistic leaders’
insatiable desire for constant adoration and ego
boosts. Nevertheless, these benefits would be
reserved exclusively for the most loyal and suffi-
ciently submissive, admiring subordinates whose
devotion to the leader might at the same time leave
them defenseless and vulnerable to his/her whims
and changing moods (Czarna et al. 2018). In a
similar vein, Grijalva and Harms (2014) devel-
oped their Narcissistic Leaders and Dominance
Complementarity Model to better understand
what kind of followers would work most effec-
tively with narcissistic leaders. They predicted
that submissive (rather than dominant) followers
would work more harmoniously with narcissistic
leaders and that the leader-follower relationship
would be more satisfying and productive for both
parties. However, other scholars (Padilla et al.
2007) suggested that these submissive individuals
might be vulnerable to narcissists’exploitative
tendencies. Recent research showed that fol-
lowers low on self-esteem or low on core self-
evaluations suffered most from narcissistic
leaders as they perceived them to be abusive
and, in turn, these followers showed reduced per-
formance and more burnout symptoms when
working for such leaders. Followers low on self-
esteem are more insecure and more in need of
approval from their supervisor and thus also
make for “easier targets”(Nevicka et al. 2018a).
Thus, despite the fact that collaboration with more
submissive followers might be preferable for nar-
cissistic leaders as they do not need to experience
power conflict with dominant subordinates, this
may come at a cost to the followers themselves.
Thus, how follower characteristics fit with those
of a narcissistic leader might require further inves-
tigation: when and under what circumstances
6 Narcissism and Leadership
follower’s loyalty and submission to a leader
work synergistically with the leader’s narcissism
to bring benefits to both parties and when it
becomes a hindrance and a hazard to the well-
being of the followers.
Conclusion
So how can we best harness the positive side of
narcissistic leaders, while curbing their negative
side? In the above we have provided some exam-
ples of contextual factors that could serve as a
switch between the adaptive and maladaptive
influence of narcissistic leaders. Additionally,
organizational safeguards such as checks and bal-
ances and executive training can be used to keep
narcissistic leaders under control (Grijalva and
Harms 2014). According to the Energy Clash
Model, narcissistic energy, when managed and
directed properly either at structural or systemic
level (through implementing systemic checks and
balances via accountability, instituting synergistic
leadership, increasing leader-organization identi-
fication) or at an individual or interpersonal level
(introducing micro-interventions, initiating per-
sonal development through coaching, strengthen-
ing the leader-employee fit) may contribute to
organizational innovation and evolution
(Sedikides and Campbell 2017). Under these con-
ditions, with checks and balances securing the
ethical culture, mutual respect, and civility in the
workplace, narcissistic leaders could achieve an
optimal level of functioning and significantly con-
tribute to their organizations. Thus, in a well-
controlled environment and in the right context a
leader characterized by this apparently aversive
trait can become an asset rather than a liability to
the organization.
Cross-References
▶Dark Personality Features and Employment
▶Manipulativeness
▶Narcissism
▶Narcissistic Personality Inventory
▶Personality and Leadership
▶Personality, Personnel Selection, and Job
Performance
▶Political Leadership
Acknowledgments The present work was supported by
grant no. 2015/19/B/HS6/02214 from the National Science
Center, Poland, awarded to the first author.
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