 |
Hambrick, who declined to name any of the participants in his study, is trying to prove a point that companies headed by narcisstic CEOs have higher highs and lower lows than those headed by humbler types. The professor of management at Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal College of Business based his conclusion on some interesting metrics, such as the size of the CEOs photo in the annual report and how often they refer to themselves using the first person singular "i" or "me" in media interviews. We chatted on Friday July 13 about all his study:
 |
PhillyInc: What other traits do they have?
Hambrick: "A narcissist has an intense self-admiration but a chronic need to have that self-admiration reinforced by others. They tend to have an air of arrogance and are often dismissive. They really like to be in the limelight."
PhillyInc: Doesn't every CEO refer to themselves in the first person since the media usually questions them directly?
Hambrick: "If it were always on the basis of the questions being asked, then we wouldn't see any difference between them."
PhillyInc: How do companies fare under narcissistic CEOs compared with more egalitarian ones?
Hambrick: "It may be that narcisstics are why wild and bold things get done. The likelihood of a big win or a big loss is greater. Investing in a company that's headed by a narcisstic CEO is going to tend to be a wild ride."
PhillyInc: What's it like to work for them?
Hambrick: "My hypothesis is that it would be very rare to find someone who scored very high on our narcissism scale who had a career of steady incremental advancement in companies. Narcissists can't handle that."
