Be a Boss worth working for: Are you a Narcissist?

Chronicles of Experience

They say people don’t leave companies, they leave the management and the highest authority of any business, the manager of the management, if you will, is the Boss.  His/Her influence will trickle down the ranks, influencing every person in the company.  So what type of boss are you?  Are you a boss worth working for?

This series will seek to answer these questions and analyse any possible weaknesses in you as a leader.  Starting with today’s topic: Narcissism.

A Narcissist is described as someone who has an intense admiration for themselves above all others.  It is an abhorrent self-centeredness as a narcissist will always compare themselves to others.  Are you telling a story about yourself?  The narcissist will turn it into a story about themselves.  Other people aren’t just bad they are the worst people that have ever lived.

Are you a narcissist?

Words: Do you always go to the extreme?  Things are either the best, greatest, biggest or most tremendous treasures in the world or they are the worst, most retarded, disastrous and useless pieces of trash to exist.

Emotions: How do you make others feel?  Are they not worth the ground you walk upon or are you not worthy to bask in their glory?  Both of these extremes are indicative of a narcissistic personality.

Behaviour: A narcissist is both defensive and aggressive and so quickly finds himself/herself in conflict situations.  Only after the dust has settled do they take the time to reflect and take criticism.

Take some time to reflect and ask yourself whether you can see any of these qualities in your behaviour.

So you are a narcissist:

Words can have a stigma attached to them, but it is highly unlikely that none of the characteristics listed above could ever have been used to describe you.  Now that you know, you can deal with it and become a boss worth working for.  This is what this series is all about.

The first step towards progress is realising that there is a problem, a need that has to be addressed, a weakness.  If you are a narcissist, this may be a bitter pill to swallow, but remember that the world is not divided into black and white, good and evil or treasures and trash.  Criticism is not proof of failure and praise does not make you a god among mortals.  People are a mixed bag and you need to learn to accept yourself and others for all the good and bad inside them.

A big thank you to Rentia for helping out with this topic.