Narcissistic Leaders Are Narcissistic

… or something.

The actual headline was How Narcissistic Leaders Squash Collaboration. My question is this: Did we need a study to tell us this? The results are worth reading, and if you’re choosing someone for a leadership role, they’re worth heeding.

Despite all of this, overconfident leaders are also often the people who get things done. I would credit most of my shortcomings in terms of goals to a failure to confidently keep my eye on the goal. Even when I was wrong, moving forward with vigor would likely have been more productive than dithering.

So there’s a place in the universe for narcissists. What I would suggest is that those above and below the narcissist in the hierarchy need to take that into account, especially those above. Force the narcissist to cooperate in the only way possible: by making it a necessary condition of reaching the goal.

Why should you put up with that narcissist? Because he or she might be the one who can actually get things moving. It’s often worthwhile putting up with some characteristics you don’t like in order to get drive and creativity that you desperately need.