How to Outsmart Toxic Bosses: Strategies for Surviving Narcissistic Leadership
Trauma & Narcissism Redefined
Caroline Strawson
4.8 • 701 Ratings
🗓️ 26 March 2024
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Is narcissism more common in leadership roles? I believe that it is!
Successful leaders in business and politics may have to exhibit narcissistic traits in order to progress in their careers.
Narcissistic bosses tend to only show empathy and care when it benefits them, but may privately abuse you to gain "narcissistic supply." While not all leaders are narcissists, a handful of leaders can be very cut-throat, manipulative and abuse their power in subtle ways.
What you will learn in this episode:
- How to identify narcissistic leaders and different types of narcissism
- Why certain roles attract more narcissistic individuals
- Examples of empathetic vs. narcissistic leaders
- Strategies for dealing with a narcissistic boss
- Impacts of narcissistic leadership styles
Leadership attracts those with narcissistic traits and in some cases enables them to thrive. So how do you “win” against narcissistic bosses?
Document problematic incidents.
Set boundaries to avoid providing "narcissistic supply".
Look for support from understanding colleagues.
Prioritise your mental health and consider finding a new job to remove yourself from their toxic influence.
Podcast Resources:
- Join my FREE Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/thriveafternarcissisticabuse
- Access my low cost Narcissistic Trauma Recovery Programme https://go.carolinestrawson.com/heal-the-trauma-of-narcissistic-abuse
- Connect with me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolinestrawson/
- Find me on TikTok!: https://www.tiktok.com/@carolinestrawson
- My website: https://www.carolinestrawson.com/
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Why do I feel like this when I am in their company? Because it's reminding you and triggering you of something from your own past as well. |
| 0:08.0 | Now that's not to say it's pleasant in a workplace when you know narcissism is present. It isn't. |
| 0:12.9 | But narcissism in the workplace can be really insidious, particularly if you're dealing with covert narcissists. |
| 0:19.1 | So covert narcissists may look like everybody in the office |
| 0:21.9 | loves them as well. But covertly, there might be some abuse just to you. Welcome to trauma and |
| 0:30.0 | narcissism redefined, your weekly dose where we look at all things through a trauma-informed lens |
| 0:35.2 | to really try and understand because understanding is |
| 0:38.5 | part of your own personal power because you can't heal what you don't know. So it really is about |
| 0:43.9 | understanding, educating, hope and then healing. So in today's episode, I'm going to talk to you |
| 0:51.1 | about something that I put a post out actually on Facebook a couple of |
| 0:54.3 | weeks ago about this. Are all leaders narcissists? And it got some incredible comments from people. |
| 1:02.0 | And I thought, do you know what? I need to do a podcast on this. Because I think when we start to look at |
| 1:06.1 | leadership, it becomes ruthless. It can become cutthroat. So there's an element of for you to get to the top, |
| 1:13.5 | and I'm not just talking about in business, I'm talking about politics as well. Do you have to be a |
| 1:17.8 | narcissist? Do you have to have certain traits where you have this lack of empathy that it doesn't |
| 1:22.1 | matter who you hurt to get to the top of the profession that you want to get to the top of? |
| 1:27.1 | So if you're someone sat there thinking, hmm, that leader may be a narcissist, |
| 1:32.2 | or maybe you are the leader of your own business, |
| 1:34.8 | and ultimately we're all leaders of our own lives, |
| 1:37.5 | and you're wondering about some of the traits that might be showing up in that person that you are seeing, |
| 1:42.1 | then you need to stay tuned because I'm going to talk all things are all leaders narcissists. Hmm, interesting question, right? Start to think about |
| 1:52.0 | this. Think about who you know as a CEO, as a business owner, maybe a manager in your workplace, |
... |
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