By: Lian Bunny
News Editor
Seth Spain, a management professor at SUNY Binghamton, delivered the talk “Nice guys/gals finish last: How ‘Dark Personality Traits Can Help People Rise Through Ranks on Tuesday.’”
Spain, defined these characteristics as the “dark” triad: narcissism, manipulation and psychopathy.
Spain has studied individual differences in personality and authored the article “What Corporate Climbers Can Teach Us” that appeared in The Wall Street Journal. He has also appeared on the CBS morning show and National Public Radio.
To possess a “dark” personality, Spain said the triad must encompass the individual’s typical ways of thinking, feeling and behaving. He said that, contrary to popular belief, these traits are not necessarily dysfunctional for everyday life.
Before discussing the “dark” triad in detail, Spain differentiated between effectiveness and successfulness. According to Spain, effective leaders can communicate with others, manage their teams, be productive and give people one-on-one time. Successful leaders engage in office politics, network and are promoted more quickly than effective leaders; successful leaders didn’t necessarily pay attention to communicating with their team and managing their employees.
Spain cited Fred Luthans’ study “Real Managers,” where over 400 managers were observed for about 4 years. Luthans wanted to see how managers’ behavior was tied to productivity and how it affected managers’ promotions. According to Spain, only about 10 percent of the managers were both effective and successful.
While leaders with “dark” triad personality traits may be successful, it does not necessarily mean they are effective leaders, said Spain.
As Spain broke down the three traits in the “dark” triad, he used well-known, fictional bosses as examples. Spain said Michael Scott from The Office television show showcases what every narcissist wants.
“Would I rather be feared or loved?” Scott said. “Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.”
According to Spain, narcissists initially succeed, because they are motivated to work hard; they want to be the best at what they do. Their enthusiasm makes them excellent salesmen. However, Spain said a narcissist’s success is usually short-lived, because their domineering and competitive personality tends to poison long-term relationships.
Another “dark” trait is the ability to manipulate others, which Spain referred to as Machiavellianism. He said these types of people lie often, are good at forming alliances, often engage in politics and are willing to use threats and intimidation to “do what needs to be done.”
Spain used Walter White from “Breaking Bad” as an example. He said pride is White’s biggest feature, and yet when nothing else works, he will resort to pleading and begging, even if it upsets his core characteristic of arrogance. White will do whatever if takes to get what he wants.
However, Spain said Machiavellians may attempt to use these approaches when interacting with people, but oftentimes may not carry out these strategies. According to Spain, manipulators lie more often, but are not necessarily better at lying than the average person.
Similarly to narcissists, Spain said Machiavellians might be initially successful; however, the manipulation inhibits long-term relationships.
Lastly, Spain discussed psychopaths who, by his definition, are not prone to guilt or shame, are impulsive and are willing to harm others to succeed. Their emotions are oftentimes fake, except for a few intense bursts of anger. They don’t think about the future, which makes them extreme risk takers, according to Spain.
Spain used Gordon Gekko from the movie Wall Street as an example of a psychopath. Gekko only cares about himself and his success, said Spain. He will tell people whatever they want to hear until he stabs them in the back.
According to Spain, the main problems with managerial derailment, such as insensitivity, aloofness, arrogance, perfectionism and volatility, stem from one of these three “dark” triad characteristics. Each trait leads to problems with interpersonal relationships.
During the question-and-answer session after the talk, Matt Creeron, a junior sports studies major, asked how the “nice guys” can move up in the business world.
Spain said the “nice guys” tend to get work done, but no matter how productive you are, you aren’t going to get promoted if people don’t notice you. Spain said people should focus on the long-term successes. This might mean people have to self-promote a little, which can be tough.
He also said people shouldn’t be too afraid to take risks.
Spain quoted Mark Zuckerberg, one of the five co-founders of Facebook, who said, “In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy where you’re guaranteed to fail is not taking any risk and not changing anything.”
