Unless you have been on holiday or living under a rock, you’ll have heard about the BrewDog debacle. The realisation that even the most beloved of brands have a dark side.
Many founders and founder-owners seem to fall what is known as the ‘dark triad‘ of leadership (or personality) first described by Paulhus and Williams. They display traits of Psychopathy, Narcissism, or Machiavellianism. This also seems to be the case in Senior and Executive roles as well; in a 2010 study, 3.9% of executives scored above the clinical cut off score for Psychopathy, against a societal norm of about 1%.
So why do they get hired?
Let’s start by looking at the traits often shown by individuals with these dark personalities. The traits of individuals with one of those 3 personality types are often traits desired by the organisation – extraversion, humour, risk-taking, influence, quick decision making, strong oral communication etc. It’s only when looked at in the round alongside what isn’t present (kindness, empathy, ethics, responsibility, conflict resolution, etc) that the reality starts to become apparent. Depending on the recruitment process it is highly likely that the desirable attributes will overshadow the less desirable.
Next, the dark leader is intelligent, likely charming and manipulative. Many studies have shown how easily swayed interviewers are by unconscious bias. The dark leader is expert at leveraging that. They have a compelling story and can easily divert attention away from the negative and back onto the positive. They are likely accomplished at impression management tactics; praising the recruiter, self promoting, ingratiating themselves and evidencing why they would be a good cultural fit.
They’re generally skilled at faking communal behaviours in the short term and bringing the conversation back to task accomplishment – which is generally what recruiters are looking for in interview, regardless of the level of the role. Unless the recruiter is specifically testing for empathy, listening, and collaboration, it’s highly unlikely the dark personality will show through the interview process.
Once on board they’ll play the long game, ensuring they toe the line until they’re embedded in the teams. If you put a frog in cold water, then slowly turn up the heat, the frog doesn’t realise until it is too late to jump out. In a similar vein the dark leader will slowly turn up their negative traits. They will focus on task completion, evidencing the wins while they embed themselves. They will sometimes go so far as to use gaslighting style techniques on anyone who attempts to unmask them.
This sounds pretty bad, right? What can be done?
Firstly, ensure your Job Description outlines the communal skills needed and test for them in the process. If the role calls for communication, listening, collaboration, empathy, conflict resolution etc., lean in to those skills in the interview process. Ask both situational and behavioural questions and focus on the final outcomes, not only what they did in the moment.
If you do any psychometrics as part of the process, ensure you research the interplay between strengths and weaknesses and review that in conversation with the candidate to explore their reaction to those insights.
Finally, do your research but treat everyone with respect, even if it becomes apparent they are not a good fit.