The reality of being a psychopath is that you are usually very proficient at getting the job done. This is probably why studies suggest that 3.9 percent of high ranking corporate professionals are psycho, which is a steep curve above what you’d find among the general population.
What we can conclude from this–is being a psychopath is not such a bad thing when it comes to climbing the ladder of success. Unfortunately, when you are working under a psychopath, something else can happen all together. Previously open doors can begin to close, recognition dwindle, performance decline, and your favor with the company fall.
These unruly bosses can ruin your career, waste valuable years, and make your work life a living hell. They can make your hair shed, arteries clog, waist expand, and ensure you will live a few years less than you could have. The good news is that it is never too late to make a clean break. These are the 19 red flags telling you to pack your briefcase and tell your boss to check themselves into a psych ward (in a nice way–you may need a letter of recommendation someday).
1. Lack of empathy, shame or guilt– The psycho boss has no shame or guilt for the people’s careers they’ve ruined.
2. Rarely returns gratuity (not even a thank you). They live in very small world, from which the only person worthy of their gratuity is themselves.
3. Regret (or the word, sorry) is not a part of their vocabulary– A psycho is never sorry for the hurt or damage they cause. This is because they don’t see anything wrong with what they do. Why should they–it is all to their ultimate benefit.
4. Control freak– A psycho boss loves to have things under their control. This is the only time their world seems to be stable. There is a lot of static electricity and multiple personalities going on in that noggin of theirs, so control becomes essential to their sanity (if you can call it that).
5. Expert at finding your weaknesses– The psycho boss is an expert at discovering your weakness, because they have spent a lot of time understanding their own. This is how they will keep you under their thumb.
6. Charming (in a manipulative sort of way)– Unfortunately, you will likely be the only one who can see through their charm, because you are likely one of the few who sees them interact with a variety of professionals. Everybody will get told a slightly different story to best suit their needs, and because they do it so eloquently, very few will ever question them.
7. Lie– If someone does bring up a question, they they will lie to make it seem alright. They will lie to your face even when you already know the truth. They will lie to clients, and they will even convince themselves that all the wrongs they do is for the good of the company.
8. Narcissistic – Being admired by many important people is the goal of the psycho boss. In fact you might say that it is consistently more important than ‘doing the right thing’.
9. Likes to be the center of attention– Not only do psycho bosses like to be admired and control those around them, they prefer every topic, compliment, and honor to fall directly on their bulbous head.
10. Steal other peoples credit– The psycho boss may have a brilliant mind, but everyone is limited by the hours in their day. To makeup for what they can’t do, they routinely steal credit from others, so they can continue to appear as if they are doing the work of the entire team by themselves.
11. Bullies– These are not your traditional bullies who buy respect through the fear of their brawn. Instead, they buy the strength and loyalty of those around them with a big pay check. Your paycheck may not be so big, but if you complain too loudly, he’ll let others know about your treason, and you’ll end up with no paycheck.
12. Strict rules– No psycho leader has ever made it very far without a strict set of crazy rules designed to keep you fearful, in-line, and on your toes. Of course, none of these rules will ever apply to them.
13. Shallow, short term sexual relationships with co-workers– There is one person who hates your psycho boss more than you do–and that is their spouse in practice. To get around the fact that their life is a shambles, they will engage in many office affairs to make them feel sexy, attractive, and loved.
14. Parasitic– In so many words, the employees are in charge of making a psycho boss look good, and if they fail, they will be shamed.
15. Manipulative– So far you are probably reading this and thinking to yourself, I would never put up with any of that. Well, you would if you were expertly manipulated to think that there was a bright light at the end of the tunnel. You’ll notice that I said ‘the tunnel,’ to make it sound official, but you and I both know that such a tunnel does not exist to a psycho boss.
16. Multiple personalities– You may never really know the extent of how many personalities your boss has. Each one will be used for their own purpose. And on a positive note, you might even like one or two a little bit.
17. Unreasonable– There is no way to reason with a psycho. They already have 18 other people living inside their head, and one more voice is not going to make much difference.
18. Unethical– It is easy getting to the top when you disregard everything that is good, in exchange for what will get you what you want.
19. Throw you to the dogs– A good boss would be happy to cover for you to protect your career and integrity. Unfortunately, we know that the psycho boss has no integrity, and therefore sees you as a shield to block all debris that get kicked out from their unethical practices.
According to film and television, karma will eventually catch up to these disciples of the devil and take them down. This is the part where all the disgruntled employees get to laugh evilly at the just-desserts that befall their psycho boss. Unfortunately, that moment may take quite awhile to happen, so you best not wait around too long.
About Dr. Eric J. Leech
Eric has written for over a decade. Then one day he created Urbasm.com, a site for every guy.
About Dr. Eric J. Leech