Time to Stop Using the ’N’ Word at Work?

The Narcissist and the Limitation of Labels

Narcissist

An article arrived in my inbox today calling out narcissists in leadership positions.

Yes, I get it.

Headlines. And me too, evidently.

The Shorthand

I understand the shorthand here-that (some) people in power (sometimes) seem to value the power more than the outcome or the people. Or worse, there is malign intent and there is a negative impact on people and performance that may run a spectrum from undesirable to intolerable.

We should talk about this. About culture, about checks and balances, about hiring and firing procedures, and, of course, about our own individual agency. We should consider, together and individually, what to do to minimise it happening and to manage it when it does.

However…

The Risk

All labels come with risk.

They come with the obvious risk that a label immediately puts up a barrier between us and the person in front of us. We see the label, we have stopped seeing the person. We have become the one not listening.

And this impacts our choices, whether we see it or not. Understandable to shortcut, to…