If your boss is ruthless, selfish, vain and lacking social skills, it should come as no surprise, according to new research.
According to scientists, many managers recruited to top jobs suffer from a narcissistic personality disorder.
As such they are brimming with self confidence, dynamic, and prepared to take tough decisions - just the qualities likely to impress at high-level interviews.
But their self-serving, inconsiderate nature also means they may not be the best leaders, which follows previous research indicating that workers take nice bosses for granted.
"People with narcissistic personality disorders will be interested in dominance, status, recognition, power and admiration," said researcher Christian Gimso, from the BI Norwegian Business School. "They may not think twice about using others to achieve their goals.
"Leaders who score high on narcissistic traits lack the ability to relate to others. They run their own agenda with no thought for the people around them. This can mean poor leadership performance."
Gimso conducted a study of 3,200 candidates applying for leadership training at Norwegian armed forces officer schools.
Candidates had to undergo a structured standardised interview designed to assess leadership potential. As part of the study, they were also given a personality test that measured narcissistic traits.
Those who scored highly for narcissism also did well in the admission interviews and were more likely to be accepted as officer cadets.
Narcissists gravitate to positions that can feed their hunger for power and status, said Gimso. The findings supported the idea that they are good at getting themselves picked for such jobs.
"The study indicates that candidates with a high degree of narcissistic traits do better in the admission interview than candidates with a lower degree of narcissism," Gimso added. "They are also more likely to be admitted."
He made a number of recommendations for screening out the narcissists at job interviews. They included treating candidates as equally as possible, using multiple assessment tools, and looking for unwanted as well as desirable qualities.
Nightmare Boss Anecdotes
A Jammie Dodger Disaster (01 of09)
Open Image ModalOne morning I was doing a shift and the CEO called me asking for a coffee and his 'special biscuits'. His biscuits were Jammie Dodgers. When I took them in, he slammed down the phone and shook his head looking at the plate of biscuits. He then informed me that "Those Jammie Dodgers are too light" and that he wanted "Darker biscuit". I thought he was joking until I realised he wasn't. He had a reputation for flying off the handle so I took them away and asked the receptionist (who was back from her break) what I should do. She rolled her eyes and sent me to buy 10 packs of jammie dodgers. I had to bring them back, open them all and find the 5 darkest ones. To my shame, I did it. I took them in but by then he'd left...
An Exacting Early-Morning Riser(02 of09)
Open Image ModalWhen I was working in media, my boss stipulated that, despite official office hours being 8.30am - 6pm, all junior staff had to be in before 8am in order to collect the milk and also attend a newspaper reading session. Although this was a 'suggested' point in contracts, it was an instant black-mark against you if you didn't come in early. To the point where the poor receptionist was asked to make a list of any juniors who came in past 8am - even 1 minute past. She had to hand that to the CEO every day and he'd then email the 'offenders'.
Boss Sees Red Over Ketchup (03 of09)
Open Image ModalI had one boss who was so terrible that I actually started to believe I was part of some secret fly on the wall documentary.The boss, who shall remain anonymous, had a phobia of the colour red. We were advised not to wear any red clothes to work or risk being sent home to change. She was particularly afraid of Heinz Tomato Ketchup.One day I was sitting down for my lunch, which I’d made that morning. I’d brought some mayonnaise with me. My boss walked in, saw my food and went ballistic. Looking like she was about to burst into tears, she shouted, “get that out of here”.I was confused to say the least. I wasn’t wearing any red clothes and nothing in my lunch was red. But, unfortunately, my mayonnaise was from Heinz and even that was enough to set her off.I had to remove the jar from the building immediately.
Car Crash? Whiplash? Meh (04 of09)
Open Image Modal'I was driving in convoy to a new business meeting, we were involved in a car accident with whiplash and coffee all down ourselves."Our boss proceeded to ask me to leave my car at the accident and get in her car to go to the meeting, then never mentioned to the new client that we'd had just been in a crash."
Mr Moneybags (05 of09)
Open Image ModalMy boss regularly call up other members of staff's salaries during company meetings. The next day, he would bring in items he'd bought and ask our opinion on whether we liked them. He also took a mortgage out for his house from company money - requesting that we work harder so he could pay off the mortgage faster.
Never Work With Dogs...(06 of09)
Open Image ModalMy boss has an office dog, on one occasion the dog had explosive diarrhoea and a member of the team had to clean up the carpet, he still asks team members to walk the dog.
...Or Cats(07 of09)
Open Image ModalMy old boss used to call me for weird requests on my way into work, like once doing so at 7am and asking me to travel t his house to put his cat in the cat basket, as the cat needed to go to the vet and it liked me more than him. It was the final straw & I handed in my notice later that month!
An Billboard Boardroom Battle (08 of09)
Open Image ModalI discussed a project with my boss to create large-scale advertising billboards that would change with the seasons. She and the team loved the idea, said the project was great, and I got official approval to go ahead.Two weeks later, I dropped off fully designed proofs for the completed project at her office to get her approval for release. The rest of the team had seen them and loved them, however she took one look and yelled at me for wasting the company's time and money on such a silly project.It wasn't funny then, but it's funny now, especially considering that the company ended up using the billboards that I created (without any changes) shortly before my annual review.
Worker Monkeys And A Dodgy Computer Folder...(09 of09)
Open Image ModalMy boss would refer to his staff as 'worker monkeys' (to our faces) and would regularly leave early on Friday for 'Poet's day' (P*ss off early, tomorrow's Saturday) - leaving us to lock up. He often asked me to send things from his computer on his behalf, and on his desktop was a folder titled 'hentai'. If you don't know what that is, let's just say it's not appropriate stuff for your work computer desktop!