What is Machiavellianism and What is it's Impact at Work?
TRANSCRIPT
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I first learned about Machiavelli over a decade ago while taking my Master's degree in International Management at HEC Paris. We did an assessment to score ourselves and I was shocked to discover how many of my classmates were off the charts high on Machiavellianism.
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For a record, those who score high on the MACH test are more likely to have a higher level of deceitfulness exploited in this and a cold, unemotional temperament. In other words, Machiavellianism is marked by behavior that is cunning, manipulative, lacking morality or empathy with a calculated focus on self-interest.
[00:00:41]
I don't know why these guys, and yes, they were mainly guys, were so thrilled about being off the charts manipulative .
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It's not surprising that across the board, leaders who score high on Machiavellianism have higher ratings of abusive supervision among their teens, leading to over job satisfaction, less trust in leadership, and overall worse performance outcomes.
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What is surprising, however, is that individuals high in this trade find it easier to obtain leadership positions, get better salary, and ascend the corporate ladder faster. Why am I calling this out?
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Because especially now, as we're hiring fewer and fewer people, we have a responsibility to ensure that those we do hire, especially for leadership roles, are tested for Machiavellianism.
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It's in this one way that we can start to influence the system away from rewarding dark triad behaviors and maybe stop doing some damage to our people.
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Visit me to learn more about Project Corporate Trauma at www.
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