The Corporate Psychopath

As stated in a previous article on this site, “A psychopath best put is a person who is self serving, obsessed, and can not stop until that obsession is satisfied.” The corporate psychopath is a little bit different than your “traditional” psychopath.

When one thinks of a psychopath – the first thing that they might think of is a mass murderer (like Charles Manson) or somebody that has completely fallen off the deep end and is insane. Not all psychopath’s have to be mass murderers. Psychopaths simply just do not feel the same way that normal humans feel. They have less fear, no love, are cold-hearted, very manipulative, and often come with a superficial charm.

When encountering a psychopath, it is very likely that this person is able to make you feel like the greatest person ever. They may seem witty, smart, cheerful, successful, and overall just the best person on the planet. But remember, there is always an end goal with a psychopath and as soon as they’ve gotten what they wanted out of you (what they used you for) you will no longer be of any use to them.

There are many signs of the “corporate psychopath.” And one of the biggest ones is that they like to see people in pain (whether it be physical or mental). The corporate psychopath shares a lot of qualities with the “con man” (which is short for confidence man because they tend to get you to have a lot of confidence in them).

When one thinks of a psychopath, the term ‘sociopath’ also comes into to play… Now there has been many ways to describe the differences between a sociopath and a psychopath, but there is one that has kind of stuck with me for a while.

If you have ever seen the movie “Resovior Dogs” then you have seen the two distinct personalities that separate the psychopath from the sociopath. I am particularly talking about two different characters in the movie – one of which goes by Mr. White – Larry Dimmick (Played by Harvey Keitel) and one of which goes by Mr. Brown (Played by Quentin Tarantino). Mr. White represents the sociopath – he doesn’t want to have to cause anyone pain (or murder anyone in this movie’s case) but he will do it if he has to while as Mr. Brown represents the psychopath by showing that he actually takes enjoyment in causing these people harm. It bring him pleasure to be violent and to cause harm.

So how does this tie in with the ‘Corporate Psychopath.’ As you know, psychopath’s will not stop until they obtain their obsession and have satisfied themselves with whatever it is that brings them satisfaction. In the corporate world that may come as the person who takes credit for someone else work, the one who twists the board members at his or her will (and is able to do so because he or she is very talented in manipulation), or the one that seems to blame everything that goes wrong on anyone else.

You see, corporate psychopaths, enjoy the power, and are very motivated to get there, and will do things that others would never consider in their lives to get their. This is because they cannot stop – they are insatiable, and whether you are working for a law firm, for a bank, or on Wall Street, you have to be on the look out for these types of people. There is a very good documentary on this film.

The goal is to really just be aware an educate yourself. You don’t want to use the term “psychopath” too lightly, but you want to make sure that you have your eyes peeled.

Guest Author Philip


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