The Myers-Briggs Company advises businesses to examine the threat of narcissistic leaders

London, UK – 1st October 2019 – Modern leaders need to demonstrate flexibility to be successful, rather than project an outdated ‘great man’ persona. This is according to The Myers-Briggs Company’s global trends report, ‘People First for Organizational Fitness’ which drew on the responses of 1.3 million respondents to the Myers-Briggs personality assessment to show that a more inclusive style of leadership is sadly under-represented in business leaders.”

Psychological research tells us that the experts who sound most confident and authoritative are generally listened to more and believed wholeheartedly. This is because humans instinctively respond to confidence in a positive way. However, those who sound most self-assured in their pronouncements aren’t necessarily the most accurate or truthful. In fact, research has revealed that experts who sound the most confident are also more likely to get things wrong. Therefore, overzealous and over-confident leaders can mean potential dangers for both the political scene and the workplace. Instead, leaders should confess to their own weaknesses and build teams that help address their shortcomings.

Furthermore, by promoting the ‘great man’ style of leadership, organisations can threaten opportunities for women and harm diversity. Additional research from The Myers-Briggs Company on narcissism and leadership has demonstrated that this kind of behaviour can lead to women being less likely to seek out leadership roles, even when they are as well or better qualified than men. 

The negative effects of overconfidence are often exacerbated by ‘group think’, where in the rush to make decisions, information that is inconvenient to the story constructed by the leader is ignored. The research also demonstrated that overconfident and dominant leaders can actively inhibit the exchange of information between members of a group, worsening the negative effects of group think. 

John Hackston, Head of Thought Leadership at The Myers-Briggs Company, one of the world’s largest business psychology providers commented: “One way to overcome these challenges, in both the political and workplace spheres, is to build self-awareness. By becoming more aware of their personality and biases, individuals can make more informed decisions, helping them to overcome the pressure to follow ‘group think’ and narcissistic leaders.”

Hackston continued: “Personality questionnaires like the MBTI® assessment provide a framework for helping people work effectively as part of a team, and can be extremely useful in facilitating balanced problem solving. If we are aware of how we take in information, if we tend to concentrate on facts or past experiences rather than look at future possibilities (Sensing rather than Intuition in MBTI terms), then we can force ourselves to spend time outside of our comfort zone. The same goes for making decisions – do we tend to rely more on logic (Thinking) or pay more attention to values (Feeling)?”

Narcissism is fundamentally a rejection of others’ input. It is the role of leaders to consider how to be flexible in their leadership and management, as well as recognise how to build a dynamic team that possesses different skills. However, it is also the role of employees to ensure they don’t blindly follow leaders, and work on building self-awareness that allows them to focus on the facts.

 

About The Myers-Briggs Company 
In our fast-changing world, your edge lies in harnessing 100 percent of your talent – whether you’re at work, home, school, college, or anywhere in between. Your success and sense of fulfilment aren’t just about what you know and what you can do, they hinge on your relationships and interactions with others. The Myers-Briggs Company empowers individuals to be the best versions of themselves by enriching self-awareness and their understanding of others. We help organisations around the world improve teamwork and collaboration, develop inspirational leaders, foster diversity and solve their most complex people challenges. As a certified B Corp (and a registered California Benefit Corporation), The Myers-Briggs Company is a force for good. Our powerfully practical solutions are grounded in a deep understanding of the significant social and technological trends that affect people and organisations. With over 60 years in assessment development and publishing, and over 30 years of consultancy and training expertise, a global network of offices, partners and certified independent consultants in 115 countries, products in 29 languages, and experience working with 88 of the Fortune 100 companies, we’re ready to help you succeed.

   

Media contacts:

Hiwot Wolde-Senbet, Flagship Consulting
Claire Nelson, Flagship Consulting
Natasha Cobby, Flagship Consulting
myers-briggs@flagshipconsulting.co.uk
+44 207 680 7104

Petra Merne
The Myers-Briggs Company
PMerne@themyersbriggs.com
+44 1865 404584