Scrap job interviews to stop narcissists who will bully their staff being hired as managers, leading business expert says
- Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic warns that interviews favour narcissists and bullies
- The professor said people with an inflated sense of self-worth perform well
- But he says quieter but perhaps more competent applicants are overlooked
- Chamorro-Premuzic said there would be more women bosses in a meritocracy
Job interviews lead to narcissist bullies being hired as managers so should be scrapped, a leading business expert has said.
Professor of business psychology Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, 43, has warned that the interview process encourages bosses to hire people similar to them rather than hiring people based on merit.
In his new book – Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders (and How to Fix It) – the professor makes the case that most organisations make a habit of promoting boastful narcissists into senior leadership positions, partly due to their confidence in job interviews.
He told the Sunday Times: ‘Narcissists interview really well. We’re not great at judging competence, so when someone is unaware of their limitations, we think: “Ooh, they must be good!”
Professor of business psychology Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, 43, has warned that the interview process encourages bosses to hire bullies and narcissists (stock image)
‘They charm people initially, but they don’t make good bosses. They are more prone to bullying and harassment, and are resistant to negative feedback. They blame others for their mistakes and take credit for others’ achievements.’
The professor recommends a data-driven assessment through CVs, psychological tests and an analysis of past performance.
He claims that people with an inflated sense of self-worth, who he says are usually men, are better at climbing the corporate ladder due to their confidence in interviews, adding that women more often display humility, integrity and competence – qualities he says are the mark of a good leader, pointing to German chancellor Angela Merkel as an example.
Chamorro-Premuzic says that if the workplace were a perfect meritocracy then women would occupy more positions of authority due to the traits they more often display.
‘Although I talk in the book about gender, I ultimately argue that it isn’t just about having more women — we need more feminine leaders,’ he told the Sunday Times.
He says the advice that women should be more confident is ‘silly’, adding that there is no connection between putting yourself forward for something and being competent at it.
People who are the best at something are often very critical of themselves, the professor said, adding that the most boastful and outgoing applicants perform better than introverted and understated peers on job interviews.
Chamorro-Premuzic warns that those with an inflated sense of their self worth often climb the corporate ladder, estimating that 60-70% or workers have a bad manager.
Business expert Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic has pointed to Angela Merkel as an example of good leadership
He says people are rewarded for ‘sucking up’ and playing office politics, even though good managers focus on giving constructive feedback and helping staff perform better.
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is a teacher at University College London and at Colombia University in New York whose previous work has included studying how to increase productivity through breaking repetitive habits.
He has previously suggested doodling each task that needs to be accomplished in a day to ‘put a more creative spin on a typically mundane task’.
The professor also advised listening to rock music mid-morning to avoid the 11.30 ‘slump’ between breakfast and lunch, and writing with different coloured pens and sleeping on the other side of the bed to shake up your routine.
He gave a TED Talk in 2014 urging the audience to take ‘a more self-aware approach to confidence’ and to embrace the power of negative thinking.