Six red flags your boss could be a psychopath: Dark personality traits in the workplace

A narcissistic boss. A toxic workplace. A destructive leader who leaves you doubting yourself. New research suggests dark personality traits may be surprisingly common in leadership roles — and the impact on employees can be devastating.

We’ve all encountered them: the manager who thrives on intimidation, takes credit for others’ ideas, or somehow leaves every interaction feeling like they’ve won while everyone else loses. As uncomfortable as it may be to consider, there may be a reason why some leaders appear remarkably lacking in empathy.

A major international research collection led by Durham University Business School explored how these so-called “dark personality traits” manifest in organisations, influence leadership and culture, and affect employee wellbeing and performance. Published in the Journal of Managerial Psychology, the collection highlights a troubling paradox: traits typically viewed as negative can sometimes help individuals advance their careers.

Narcissists may project unwavering confidence under pressure. Machiavellian personalities can be highly strategic. Fearlessness and risk tolerance may even be rewarded in competitive environments.

But success often comes at a cost. Professor Susanne Braun, co-author of the collection, warns: “Toxic work environments created by dark personalities can contribute to stress, burnout, and mental health problems among employees, which in turn erode job satisfaction, performance, and retention.”

When toxicity goes undetected

Chartered counselling psychologist Dr Sheena Kumar explains that abuse in the workplace can be particularly destabilising because it often hides behind ambition, charisma, or authority.

“A person may be publicly praised while privately undermined, excluded, humiliated, or manipulated. This creates enormous cognitive dissonance for the victim, and people can lose their professional identity or experience profound burnout from running on a treadmill where the finish line is constantly moving.”

She also highlights the tactics toxic leaders often employ: “They frequently rely on triangulation — pitting colleagues against one another to maintain control, take credit for your wins, or scapegoat you for losses.”

The dark side of career advancement

Despite their potential to deliver certain organisational gains, dark personality traits come with inherent risks. The research collection, Heroes or Villains? Advancing the Understanding of Dark Personality Traits in Organizations, examines how these traits disrupt work behaviour, influence relationships, and impact organisations on multiple levels.

“Significant gaps remain in understanding and mitigating their full impact,” the researchers note, meaning such behaviours often go unchecked, partly due to the “dark allure” experienced by followers.

Professor Braun emphasises the role of employees in this dynamic: “Fear of power loss, fascination, and greed can all contribute to creating downward spirals that organisations must overcome. Organisations can support employees in these situations by fostering psychological safety and reducing anxiety.”

Narcissistic abuse at work: a personal perspective

TEDx speaker, bestselling author, and empowerment coach Taz Thornton offers insight into the human toll of narcissistic abuse in professional settings: “It’s more common than people want to acknowledge, and it can be particularly damaging because the stakes are so high – our income, our professional reputation, our sense of competence, all tied up in one environment.”

She stresses that leaving a toxic workplace isn’t as simple as walking away from a relationship: “There are financial pressures, references to consider, careers built over years that suddenly feel fragile.”

Workplace narcissistic dynamics can take many forms, she explains: “Public humiliation, gaslighting, shifting goalposts, credit being quietly taken for our work, information withheld so we’re set up to fail, an atmosphere where nothing we do is ever quite right.”

The cumulative effect can be devastating.

“Work is so often tied to identity – it’s not just confidence as an employee that goes, we start questioning our fundamental capability as human beings. I’ve sat with brilliant, capable people who left jobs genuinely convinced they were incompetent, only to find themselves thriving again within months of being in a healthier environment.

“Nothing about their ability had changed; what changed was the removal of someone whose dynamic required keeping them in a state of doubt. The damage was never about their competence – it was about an environment systematically teaching them to question it.”

Six red flags in your boss’s behaviour

Taz Thornton identifies six behaviours that may indicate dark personality traits in leadership:

1. Constant need for admiration – Always seeking praise and recognition, often at your expense.
2. Triangulation – Playing team members against each other to maintain control.
3. Gaslighting – Making you doubt your own competence, memory, or judgement.
4. Credit theft – Taking credit for your ideas or work without acknowledgment.
5. Unpredictable hostility – Sudden outbursts or punitive actions over minor mistakes.
6. Shifting goalposts – Moving targets or changing expectations to keep you off balance.

These signs, combined with research insights and psychological expertise, can help employees recognise toxic dynamics before they take a lasting toll on mental health and career satisfaction.

Words: Sally Saunders, Images: Shutterstock