Corporate Psycopaths

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I was watching this little snippet on Australian television this morning on corporate psycopaths.

Fortunately the ABC leaves wholesome stories like this one on the net for the worlds prosperity.

I was reading somewhere else about how sociopaths / psychopaths will destroy anyone who can see past their mask. They are apparently very attuned to sensing if someone has caught them out. Although I am extremely bad at reading people's emotions, I think I am pretty good at spotting a sociopath from a mile away, having had many severe and extreme encounters with them, which ensures I will probably have many more, as I am bad at covering up the fact I can see what they are.

I also think that sociopaths are quite put off by Aspies because they cannot tell if their spells are working on them (they probably aren't anyway), hence find them as threatening.

This information is a real revelation for me. Finding out I was an Aspie was a huge one, and now, the knowledge of the prevalence of psychopaths / sociopaths (1/20th of the general population, 1/10 managers) really explains things. My judgment of certain people was actually spot on. It wasn't a comorbid paranoid delusion.

The whole of humanity isn't totally f$*&ed, - the monsters are real!

The stories of corporate psychopaths predating on Aspies litters these forums. Just remember, you are not being abused by another human being at work, it's just a soulless disease wearing a person suite.

Anyone being savaged by the corporate psychopaths at work?

Any tips on how to cope with them?

Thanks for the link. Psycopaths are one of my interests. If you are worried your boss is a psycopath or someone else you know is, you should read Without Concience. It would probably be very helpfull.

What's the difference between a sociopath and a psycopath?

Very little. Usually a psycopath is believed to result from genetic factors, while a sociopath is enviromental, but their isn't a fine line between them. The book I mentioned goes into it in more detail.

I think they are just degrees of anti-social disorders. Not like "our" kind of anti-social - more cruel and mean.

I also can tell psychopaths and sociopaths - long before everyone else figures it out.

I treat them completely differently than I treat anyone else because they can suck the life out of a person.

In some ways, corporate psychopaths are more dangerous than criminal psychopaths. Obviously, not physically - but the number of lives they can destroy is often larger.

I worked with one - who just so happened to be a VP. Totally sadistic and morally corrupt - yet he had so many people fooled. Specifically, his bosses. He reminded me a LOT of Joe Pesci's character in Good Fellows. He'd make his bosses and peers laugh - while terrorizing everyone under him.

Yet - I saw him as a challenge. Like St. George taking down the devil. He never scared me. As a function of my marketing job, I'd sometimes have to "handle" him at corporate events.

One of my "hobbies", was to take pictures of him at corporate functions after he got all drunk and sexual harrass-y with waitresses and such. He was too smart to sexually harrass anyone he worked with. I didn't take the pictures to blackmail him or get him in trouble - but just to laugh at and show my co-workers. Power to the people!

Why not? If you didn't have a solid case, it would backfire. But if you had a real case against him, you would have been doing everyone a favor.

I've worked with a few and still do work with one or two. The funny thing is that everyone else in the office has issues with them but because I just let them be "right" all the time and I let them take all the credit and they leave me alone.

I'm nice to them even when they're trying to be vicious and as a result they rarely pick on me.

Yeah, had plenty of encounters, I think I'm a magnet for them. We also get them here, masquerading as having AS. It seems like most corporate/pack behaviour is very strongly influenced by sociopathy.

They seem to get pleasure from playing with people like puppets, so if the puppet isn't responding to their string-pulls I think they start to wonder if it's because it sees what they're doing and what they are, too.

The worst is when everyone around is charmed and you feel like you're looking at Hannibal Lector, but can't prove it.

Bad karma. He never did anything personally to me. And it was WAY more fun to humiliate him behind his back.

So how are you different?

Not sure if this qualifies, but I went through Hell when a jerk I had to deal with realized he couldn't manipulate me anymore. He did a similar thing to the woman who was in my position before me. He liked to press buttons to get a reaction out of people, and if he got you doing what he wanted, he was happy.

He was good at what he did, and since I worked for another company (not under his authority), once I stopped playing by his ruled (because I didn't have to), that's when he started working to make my life miserable.

I had a boss like that. For two days. On the second day, he threw a temper tantrum that made no sense at all. I stopped what I was doing and looked at him, calmly trying to figure out what he was ranting about. That was the wrong response. I suppose I was expected to do the sheep dance -- cower and apologize for being alive, before I even understood what he was going on about. I failed the test, and was uninvited for the third day. I didn't bother to ask why.

Yes - I suppose its degrees of bad karma - in my delusional mind. But I did see how he tortured other people. I've just always had a problem with people running to HR and/or calling in lawyers. Kind of personal rule for me.