I’m sure we all have worked with a narcissist at some point in our career—someone who has an exaggerated sense of their worth, who feels they’re better than everyone else. Heaven forbid, perhaps we exhibit such traits ourselves?

Well, apparently that’s OK and could even benefit the business, as long as it occurs in moderation, according to researchers at the University of Illinois and University of Nebraska in a just-released study titled Narcissism and Leadership: A Meta Analytic Review of Linear and Nonlinear Relationships. (An article on the findings is slated for a future edition of the journal Personnel Psychology.)

University of Illinois psychology professor and study leader Emily Grijalva notes that previous studies have reported conflicting findings, with some showing narcissism improves leadership effectiveness and others demonstrating the opposite to be the case. But the latest research by Grijalva and her team suggests the truth lies somewhere in between.

While narcissists are more likely to emerge as group leaders, they found, too much narcissism could undermine a person’s effectiveness as a leader.

Peter Harms, a professor of management at the University of Nebraska and co-author of the study, points out that those with moderate levels of narcissism have achieved “a nice balance between having sufficient levels of self-confidence, but do not manifest the negative, antisocial aspects of narcissism that involve putting others down to feel good about themselves.”

So what’s the takeaway here for HR leaders? Grijalva puts it this way …

These results could really shift the focus of the discussion, because instead of asking whether or not narcissists make good leaders, we are asking how much narcissism it takes to be the ideal leader. We confirmed that narcissism is neither fully beneficial nor harmful, but it’s really best in moderation.”

Isn’t that the case with so many things in life?

Grijalva adds that it probably makes sense for employers to factor these findings into the way they read personality tests that measure the level of narcissistic tendencies found in job candidates.

Share on Facebook