Narcissistic leaders are known for displaying impeccable self-confidence, dominance, sense of power, and, of course, low empathy (O’Reilly et al., 2013). Hostility and arrogance are two essential characters that drive such individuals. As narcissistic leaders are always motivated by their need to control others and get their approval and admiration, their leadership style mostly tends to go destructive. On the other hand, certain other qualities like leading with a vision and consistently following their cherished path make them great leaders. Even as certain characters like ruthlessness and uncompromising nature help them to move forward as a visionary, narcissistic leaders fail to win the hearts of their followers as their leadership style lacks a human approach.
Narcissistic leaders are likely to succeed in the short run; however, they fail ultimately as they themselves destroy the system required for their very survival (Campbell et al., 2011). Adolf Hitler is one of the most popular leaders in history known to have many narcissistic leadership traits. His lack of empathy proved exploitative to millions of Jews who were mercilessly killed in concentration camps during the Second World War (Rauthmann, 2012). Even as Hitler had a lot of faithful followers, he ultimately let everyone down as his leadership traits did not contain even a minute tinge of humanity. No doubt, Hitler was both a reactive and proactive personality; if his proactive nature made him an unmatched political figure in Europe during his time, his reactive nature was responsible for his brutality. His proactive personality influenced him to take control of Germany when the nation was experiencing severe economic depression. He redeemed Germany and made it powerful once again. Even as Hitler’s leadership was often criticized for his diabolical madness and genocidal tendencies, he had an impeccable knack of understanding and leading others. However, his reactive nature that was responsible for hating the Jews ultimately led him to hate his own countrymen and subsequently to his own downfall.
Dominance, a typical narcissistic character often perceived as a tendency to control others and overlook their points of view, matter-of-factly does have some positive effects in a person’s leadership style. Also, narcissistic individuals are more likely to make good leaders than non-narcissistic individuals. (Nevicka et al., 2011). Even though Hitler’s’ dominance that led to his sense of power was repeatedly blamed for the way he tried to eradicate Jews from the face of the earth, it made him a truly progressive leader in the history of mankind. He is remembered to this day for the economic growth and prosperity Germany witnessed during the Third Reich. Different reforms under Hitler’s Nazi regime helped automobile giants like Volkswagen to manufacture cheap and fast automobiles. Besides, the technological innovations like development of the jet engine under the Nazi rule are attributable for Hitler’s charisma and proactive leadership.
Narcissism has been found as a quality responsible for making dynamic leaders who can easily adapt to any change in the environment (Chatterjee & Hambrick, 2011). Hitler promoted development inspired by socialism in Germany. However, he made the Nazi regime a symbol of terror by systematically persecuting the Jews and its own citizens for their varied political, racial and religious affiliations. In fact, Hitler’s reactive and proactive nature led to the growth and downfall of Germany. If on the one hand German economy prospered owing to his proactive policies, his reactive nature that inspired mass killing and political terror led to the division of the country towards the end. Thus, Hitler’s leadership known for narcissism though seemed to prosper in the beginning finally led him and his Nazi regime to destruction.
References
Campbell, W. K., Hoffman, B. J., Campbell, S. M., & Marchisio, G. (2011). Narcissism in organizational contexts. Human Resource Management Review, 21, 268 –284
Chatterjee, A., & Hambrick, D. C. (2011). Executive personality, capability cues, and risk taking: How narcissistic CEOs react to their successes and stumbles. Administrative Science Quarterly, 56, 202–237.
Nevicka, B., Ten Velden, F., De Hoogh, A. & Van Vianen, A. (2011). Reality at odds with perceptions. Psychological Science, 22, 1259-1264
O’Reilly C.A., Doerr, B., Caldwell, D.F., & Chatman, J. A. (2013). Narcissistic CEOs and executive compensation. The leadership quarterly. LEAQUA-00917.
Rauthmann, J. F. (2012). The dark triad and interpersonal perception: Similarities and differences in the social consequences of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3, 487–496.
