Take a
look at some of the discussion sites, instead of listening to each other people
are often out to prove themselves through statements such as “I’m saying
something that is very radical”, or
“When I’m talking with high powered
people”. There is a sense that rather than dialogue the person with narcissistic
qualities is taking part in order to prove they have something special to offer
the masses.
Narcissistic
people get followers. As long as those
followers do just that i.e. “follow”, they will be accepted. However, as soon as the symbiosis is broken
then they are likely to be “ex-communicated” and the “leader” will play such
games as “Now I’ve got you”.
Narcissism
is on the increase and adverts play into the narcissistic culture, appealing to
those who want to look younger, be free etc. all of which are on offer through a
particular product such as botox.
Very
often narcissism is confused with charisma and self-promotion. There is a difference between being confident
and knowing what your “field of genius is” and believing that you are better
than others. When talking about OKness one Transactional Analyst theorist (White T) said that
those who are narcissistic come from the position of I’m OK and You’re
irrelevant! Of course, they can also
come from I’m OK and You’re not OK. What
we must remember is that there is a fragility of the self, even though it
doesn’t seem like it.
These
days there is greater competition alongside which is the breakdown of the
social contract e.g. for organizational pensions, health plans etc. Because of
the scarcity of jobs the potential, and current, workforce is expected to be
self-promoting. The issue is how to
remain humble and yet be confident about your “field of genius”.
We
need to remember that those who show narcissistic behaviour do so because of
early “wounding”. This can happen
through being over-indulged of even by being ignored. The workplace is not there to “cure”
individuals. However, it is important
for people to recognise the behaviours of narcissism and ensure that symbiosis
does not occur as this will fuel the narcissistic fire and can be detrimental
to the organizational culture and the sense of safety.
- Do you think narcissism is on the increase?
- Do you think someone with a narcissistic personality is good for an organisation?
We
will be facilitating a workshop on personality types and in particular on
narcissism on 14/15/16 March, 2013.
Register now for our Developmental/Organizational Transactional Analysis
programme. Go to: www.mountain-associates.co.uk/orgta_topics1213.html
Official Partner to the World
Business and Executive Coach Summit
– sign up now
Buy
our book: Working Together,
Organizational Transactional Analysis and Business Performance, published by
Gower.
