Narcissism is often a hazard for chief executives, who are said to be three times as likely as the general population to score highly for the trait in personality tests.
Academics have found that narcissistic leaders often take big risks, demand loyalty, and have flimsy ethics. They regularly invite protracted lawsuits. And, like the now-infamous crying CEO who took to social media to share how laying off employees affected him, self-absorbed leaders often need to be reminded to consider the experiences of others. “Sometimes they can give off an air of superiority and can also be very entitled,” says Lorenz Graf-Vlachy, a professor of strategy and leadership at Technische Universität Dortmund in Germany.
Graf-Vlachy’s latest study uncovered yet another way that narcissistic CEOs often damage a company: They tend to hire people who have similarly high self-regard for top management roles, which in turn leads to more turnover and turbulence within the C-suite.
That finding and its implications are fascinating, but so is the study’s other contribution to literature about bigheaded leaders: a new method for measuring narcissism in any executive. To do this, the study’s coauthors turned to social media, the modern iteration of Narcissus’s mythological pool of water, and zeroed in on five choices CEOs and executives made when presenting themselves to the world on LinkedIn. After testing their findings against other established methods for measuring narcissism, Graf-Vlachy explains, they found their LinkedIn test robust and accurate.
Decoding LinkedIn
First, the researchers counted the number of photos of themselves that people share on the site, finding that while CEOs have headshots in the main profile spot, like most everyone, they often have other pictures of themselves—onstage, during interviews, or in group photos—in their background banner image, too.
Next, because narcissists like to self-promote and boast about their achievements, the researchers tallied the words used in their subjects’ “About” field. “There’s this free text section; you can put in anything you like,” says the professor. “You can leave it blank, or you can write about your entire work history, all of your achievements, everything that you’ve done in your life, all your extravagant hobbies.” Narcissistic types fill that slate with abandon, Graf-Vlachy learned. One executive in the study listed their skydiving experience.
For the last three indicators, the study authors collected the total number of work experiences, skills, and credentials people listed in their profiles. The more text, the bigger the ego. Even two people who had both spent 40 years at one firm would reveal their personalities in their choices. People with high opinions of themselves were likely to list their various roles at said firm, illustrating their journey up the ranks. Humbler folks would use a single experience entry to sum up one job.
Every indirect personality test has limitations, of course. For example, the study’s LinkedIn assessments didn’t account for possible reputational management strategies used by CEOs who are members of one or several underrepresented groups. The authors also acknowledge that future investigations might need to include a larger number of women in senior leadership roles and consider narcissism and gender.
Perhaps Citi CEO Jane Fraser has another reason besides high self-admiration for posting 14 photos of herself on her profile.
Consider an intervention
To be fair, a little higher-than-average narcissism also isn’t the worst trait in a CEO.
Garden variety narcissism—as opposed to clinical narcissistic personality disorder—exists in everyone to various degrees, the professor notes. People at the more extreme end of the narcissistic spectrum are often automatically recognized as leaders, and their nearly delusional self-belief can propel them to do big things. Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk recognized this. Years before he bought Twitter, named it X, and turned it into his personal soapbox, he tweeted, “If I am a narcissist (which might be true), at least I am a useful one.”
But since Graf-Vlachy’s study also shows a statistically significant jump in churn at the top of companies where a narcissistic CEO hired mini-me’s, the professor believes this issue deserves attention. Awareness alone might help a narcissistic CEO avoid hiring a clone, he says, though self-insight can be limited in anyone. For that reason, he suggests that boards, too, get involved in helping CEOs build their C-suite.
Board members who notice a pattern developing at a company may want to meet with top management candidates to get a read on their personalities. Are they boastful? Do they self-promote? “You can never see inside someone’s head,” says the professor, “but narcissists tend not to be ashamed of their narcissism,” he adds. It may also be possible for corporate directors to tease out whether a candidate has a great capacity for empathy.
Then, if a potential hire comes off as suspiciously hubristic, boards can decide whether that’s a useful trait for the role at that time or if they should keep looking, steering the team away from a potentially costly clash.
Big egos at the top
Expecting narcissistic CEOs to hire like-minded C-suite officers can feel counterintuitive, Graf-Vlachy admits, since it may seem more logical that self-absorbed CEOs who crave praise and admiration would hire sycophants. Having analyzed his study data, however, the professor theorizes that narcissists are in fact attracted to each other in an interview setting. CEOs may see themselves in a candidate who projects strength, boldness, and the desire to make a big splash yet is still charming and charismatic.
Still, while a CEO may initially “love” an executive hire, that dynamic will shift over time. “Narcissists also want to exert authority, they want to dominate other people, and they want to feel superior,” says Graf-Vlachy. “It’s not a great idea to have too many narcissists in the same room.”
Leaders who like to have their egos stroked may eventually decide they aren’t getting the deference they need from an underling. A self-centered C-suite executive may feel unfulfilled or annoyed by their boss. Even star hires may eventually head for the exits if they don’t first find themselves pushed out.
