An Oracle executive once quipped, “The difference between God and Larry is that God does not believe he is Larry,” in reference to the famously self-assured CEO Larry Ellison. From Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, leaders labelled as narcissists have captivated the public while building transformative businesses. But working for these personalities can be challenging—especially without the lure of lucrative stock options. A recent study[1] explores how the influence of narcissistic leaders plays out for new employees, revealing both the benefits and the drawbacks of their leadership styles.

Narcissism isn’t one-dimensional; it comes in distinct forms, each with unique effects. Leaders driven by narcissistic admiration thrive on praise, exuding confidence and charm, and often appearing charismatic. In contrast, those prone to narcissistic rivalry view others as threats, creating a more competitive and hostile environment, especially toward newcomers. To measure the impact of these narcissistic tendencies, researchers surveyed 151 pairs of supervisor-newcomer from six major Chinese companies across sectors such as construction, finance, and pharmaceuticals over a period of 4 months following the newcomers’ entry. Supervisors reported their narcissistic style (both narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry) and their perceived similarity to and threat from their newcomers, while newcomers rated their acceptance-seeking behaviours  from their supervisors, along with their relationship quality with the supervisor, job satisfaction, and performance.

Results confirm that supervisors driven by narcissistic admiration felt less threatened by new employees, while those motivated by narcissistic rivalry viewed newcomers as a threat. This perceived threat strained supervisor-newcomer relationships, reducing both job satisfaction and performance for newcomers. Supervisors driven by narcissistic admiration who also shared some similarities with new hires—such as work or life experience—felt even less threatened, but narcissistic rivalry intensified the sense of threat felt by some supervisors. Notably, efforts by newcomers to seek acceptance from their supervisors had no significant impact on these dynamics. Regardless of the type of narcissism, it clearly has a significant impact on how new employees view their work and how they are evaluated by their supervisors.

The findings suggest that companies should move beyond standard onboarding programmes, as a supervisor’s narcissistic tendencies can skew evaluations of new employees. Alongside offering leadership training in social skills and communication to supervisors, firms should gather feedback on new hires from various sources to counterbalance the potential biases of narcissistic supervisors.

As for those of us trying to secure a job or pass probation? We should try identifying the narcissism type of our prospective boss—emphasising shared experiences and personal interests with admiration-driven supervisors, while exercising humility around those prone to narcissistic rivalry.

If you can’t beat narcissistic leaders, at least learn to manage them!

Reference:

[1]  Liu, H., Liu, Y., Chiang, J. T. J., Wang, S., & Wang, H. (2024). When self-love is threatened: Adopting a dual-type view to understand leader narcissism and its impacts on LMX and newcomer work outcomes. Personnel Psychology, 77(2), 411-439. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12555