Just sharing some experiences i have had with garden variety workplace psychopaths over the last five years. I hope that Forum members can add more experiences to this thread to share.
In a workplace environment, detecting a psychopath is never easy, and can take from months to years to unmask them. Once unmasked, though amazingly destructive predators, if you can understand their pathology, strategies can be employed to protect yourself. The act of unmasking them is a whole topic by itself, but generally, if it can be summarized - it is the small behavioral traits, that if one is observant that will be the giveaway:
1. They are always looking for easy wins, and not willing to work hard.
2. They always latch on to the boss, and fill him/her with stories of their great work/achievements - but in reality these are mostly lies. They do this because they are looking for a quick way to the top, and realize that the power to achieve this comes in planting their virus into their bosses' mind.
3. They love power and control, hence will always look to order subordinates around, no matter how small or trivial the task. Anybody is fair game to them, and if you observe the tone of their emails, it is mostly commanding in nature. There are very rarely nice, or friendly or co-operative emails from psychopaths.
4. As always money=power to them, hence they will look to constantly display either of these to their colleagues. The more psychopathic they are, the flashier they are, and sometimes their choice of clothing and choice of colors for fashion will be so out of place it will be a giveaway.
5. They always appropriate good work from other colleagues, and are quick to take credit for it. Hence they are always on the lookout for good achievements/achievers to "take over" and take credit for.
6. If you get in their way of appropriation or of their goals of money and power, you will be brunt of their attacks and No.1 enemy
7. They only co-operate for gains, never to help any colleague that needs help.
8. They are so suave and glib at meetings, and they will almost "overpower" the observer with their so called charm. But this charm is only a disguise, and upon closer observation you will see that they are looking for the quick gains as described in points 1-7 above.
When they are identified, and if you are the target of a psychopath at work, the most important point, is that you have to work to get these critters out of your personal sphere before they damage/drain your emotions, and subsequently health. At all times it is important to remember, that "battling them" is the last resort and should be avoided; the first strategy should be escape and evasion.
If you have to battle with them, then the first thing to do is to have a strategy for battle. The battle will drain your emotions, and can be very depressing at times; hence having a "battle plan/strategy" is a good first step and guide when the going gets though.
1. As a guide, if the psychopath is your boss - it is best to quit your position and look for another job, as they can wreck untold havoc in your life from that position, and no job is worth this kind of stress. If a psychopath is reporting to you, or "under you" - you should fire them as soon as possible. Although you will have power over them, the time and effort expanded to thwart all their plans and acts of sabotage against your work is not worth it. The "firing option" should always be considered. If a psychopath is your colleague and contemporary at the same management level, then the "battle strategy" or war of attrition is the best option. This is the long game, and the Don Juan way, where you sharpen your skills against petty tyrants, in order to improve your ability to handle the unknown.
2. At all times remember that we are dealing with an intraspecies predator that has no empathy and remorse, and are faking emotions - hence we should never project our benevolent views towards them - this will make it very easy for them to manipulate and use us (us here being non-psychopath, and non-authoritarians). No matter how caring, nice, suave, intelligent they are - it is all a facade, do not be fooled. If it was not for law enforcement and the legal framework, these predators would have long ago physically harmed you to get their way. Hence "show no mercy" in the battle when dealing with them.
3. In a workplace environment, they look to quickly form factions amongst the authoritarians, or gullible colleagues to spread their mind virus. Hence if possible you too, should work to form political connections with like-minded colleagues who are non-psychopathic (i know it is easier said than done) in order that you are not alone. No one can fight battles alone.
4. Once you are in the midst of battle and a target of their attacks, remember to not indulge in their contrived situations, but constantly shift the playing field. For example the use of emails; they will constantly use emails to filibuster issues, lie, command and lay blame to you - you should never ever engage them via email back. They will always have the upper hand in these "email wars" due to their pathology. The best way is to completely ignore their emails, and engage them in different issues and communication modes, where it is not easy to "cc the boss". From experience they get totally infuriated when you ignore their emails, and may commit acts of "shooting themselves in the foot". A great example of ignoring a psychopath question/mode of communication is when you observe Putin having an open press conference. When Western MSM asks him ludicrous questions about Russian troops in Ukraine, he just calmly and suavely ignores them, and instead focuses his replies on the parts of the question that he thinks is important. This is the key point, only engage them on your terms, otherwise ignore them.
5. In the long game, over time, they will learn to ignore you because you are not easy game; of they will increase their attacks to very high levels. This is when things can get very emotional and hair raising. Always keep calm, practice meditation and EE, all the while looking for opportunities or situations which you can use to portray to others in the company/work place the true nature of these critters. As their attacks increase, they will be more irrational, and opportunities will present itself to you, for you to use it back against them. During heightened attacks, sometimes your sleep and health levels will be affected; hence all the diet, health and stress relief discussed here in the forum should be practiced to better manage the situation.
6. If/when the time arrives, where you are winning the battle against these critters, and the psychopath is going to "lose" against you in a situation - they will play normally their final card; the pity card or the "scorched earth policy". In a workplace environment - the pity card will normally be used as a final gambit, to garner sympathy, from subordinates, colleagues or even from you. This is where you have to understand their pathology the most, and you must show no mercy to "vanquish" them.
Well, to me the best leader and guide on how to handle psychopaths on the planet, is currently Putin. Just watching what a great statesman he is, how he strategizes to be always 1 step ahead of the Empire clearly shows he has very good understanding of psychopathy and what he is dealing with. There is still hope for humanity.
In a workplace environment, detecting a psychopath is never easy, and can take from months to years to unmask them. Once unmasked, though amazingly destructive predators, if you can understand their pathology, strategies can be employed to protect yourself. The act of unmasking them is a whole topic by itself, but generally, if it can be summarized - it is the small behavioral traits, that if one is observant that will be the giveaway:
1. They are always looking for easy wins, and not willing to work hard.
2. They always latch on to the boss, and fill him/her with stories of their great work/achievements - but in reality these are mostly lies. They do this because they are looking for a quick way to the top, and realize that the power to achieve this comes in planting their virus into their bosses' mind.
3. They love power and control, hence will always look to order subordinates around, no matter how small or trivial the task. Anybody is fair game to them, and if you observe the tone of their emails, it is mostly commanding in nature. There are very rarely nice, or friendly or co-operative emails from psychopaths.
4. As always money=power to them, hence they will look to constantly display either of these to their colleagues. The more psychopathic they are, the flashier they are, and sometimes their choice of clothing and choice of colors for fashion will be so out of place it will be a giveaway.
5. They always appropriate good work from other colleagues, and are quick to take credit for it. Hence they are always on the lookout for good achievements/achievers to "take over" and take credit for.
6. If you get in their way of appropriation or of their goals of money and power, you will be brunt of their attacks and No.1 enemy
7. They only co-operate for gains, never to help any colleague that needs help.
8. They are so suave and glib at meetings, and they will almost "overpower" the observer with their so called charm. But this charm is only a disguise, and upon closer observation you will see that they are looking for the quick gains as described in points 1-7 above.
When they are identified, and if you are the target of a psychopath at work, the most important point, is that you have to work to get these critters out of your personal sphere before they damage/drain your emotions, and subsequently health. At all times it is important to remember, that "battling them" is the last resort and should be avoided; the first strategy should be escape and evasion.
If you have to battle with them, then the first thing to do is to have a strategy for battle. The battle will drain your emotions, and can be very depressing at times; hence having a "battle plan/strategy" is a good first step and guide when the going gets though.
1. As a guide, if the psychopath is your boss - it is best to quit your position and look for another job, as they can wreck untold havoc in your life from that position, and no job is worth this kind of stress. If a psychopath is reporting to you, or "under you" - you should fire them as soon as possible. Although you will have power over them, the time and effort expanded to thwart all their plans and acts of sabotage against your work is not worth it. The "firing option" should always be considered. If a psychopath is your colleague and contemporary at the same management level, then the "battle strategy" or war of attrition is the best option. This is the long game, and the Don Juan way, where you sharpen your skills against petty tyrants, in order to improve your ability to handle the unknown.
2. At all times remember that we are dealing with an intraspecies predator that has no empathy and remorse, and are faking emotions - hence we should never project our benevolent views towards them - this will make it very easy for them to manipulate and use us (us here being non-psychopath, and non-authoritarians). No matter how caring, nice, suave, intelligent they are - it is all a facade, do not be fooled. If it was not for law enforcement and the legal framework, these predators would have long ago physically harmed you to get their way. Hence "show no mercy" in the battle when dealing with them.
3. In a workplace environment, they look to quickly form factions amongst the authoritarians, or gullible colleagues to spread their mind virus. Hence if possible you too, should work to form political connections with like-minded colleagues who are non-psychopathic (i know it is easier said than done) in order that you are not alone. No one can fight battles alone.
4. Once you are in the midst of battle and a target of their attacks, remember to not indulge in their contrived situations, but constantly shift the playing field. For example the use of emails; they will constantly use emails to filibuster issues, lie, command and lay blame to you - you should never ever engage them via email back. They will always have the upper hand in these "email wars" due to their pathology. The best way is to completely ignore their emails, and engage them in different issues and communication modes, where it is not easy to "cc the boss". From experience they get totally infuriated when you ignore their emails, and may commit acts of "shooting themselves in the foot". A great example of ignoring a psychopath question/mode of communication is when you observe Putin having an open press conference. When Western MSM asks him ludicrous questions about Russian troops in Ukraine, he just calmly and suavely ignores them, and instead focuses his replies on the parts of the question that he thinks is important. This is the key point, only engage them on your terms, otherwise ignore them.
5. In the long game, over time, they will learn to ignore you because you are not easy game; of they will increase their attacks to very high levels. This is when things can get very emotional and hair raising. Always keep calm, practice meditation and EE, all the while looking for opportunities or situations which you can use to portray to others in the company/work place the true nature of these critters. As their attacks increase, they will be more irrational, and opportunities will present itself to you, for you to use it back against them. During heightened attacks, sometimes your sleep and health levels will be affected; hence all the diet, health and stress relief discussed here in the forum should be practiced to better manage the situation.
6. If/when the time arrives, where you are winning the battle against these critters, and the psychopath is going to "lose" against you in a situation - they will play normally their final card; the pity card or the "scorched earth policy". In a workplace environment - the pity card will normally be used as a final gambit, to garner sympathy, from subordinates, colleagues or even from you. This is where you have to understand their pathology the most, and you must show no mercy to "vanquish" them.
Well, to me the best leader and guide on how to handle psychopaths on the planet, is currently Putin. Just watching what a great statesman he is, how he strategizes to be always 1 step ahead of the Empire clearly shows he has very good understanding of psychopathy and what he is dealing with. There is still hope for humanity.