Narcissists climb the corporate ladder...

[Dr. Richard Grossman]

Here's a disturbing example:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/BP-chief-apologizes-for-small-rb-286267122.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode=


Ugh!

Best,

Richard

[Sealynx]

Hi Doc,
You are very right. This is one big N nightmare.
I live 26 miles from Gulf in Southern LA. I saw his talk and was appalled but then Tony Hayward is just as bad and we have been forced to listen to him daily. I think you HAVE to hire sociopaths and N's to make sure they will put their own well-being above the good of mankind and our entire ecosystem.

BP has been completely without mercy. The "workers" BP is hiring are being given no instructions on the protection of our ecosystem. Yesterday while supposedly "cleaning" an island of nesting pelicans (it amounted to an hour long photo op) they crushed numerous eggs and even stepped on live baby chicks!  Yesterday they had the Coast Guard, which they control, stop a group of fishermen who were had taken their own shop vacs out to siphon oil from their oysters beds. The effort was sad as they had only managed to collect one barrel of oil but stopping these people who are being forced to sit idle was heartless.

As much as we are hurting here I would encourage everyone to avoid eating our seafood with the exception of Crawfish and Cat Fish which are fresh water. We learned two days ago that the company that is testing the food for oil (for whom BP is a major contractor) has NOT been asked to test for dispersant. The newscaster even repeated it twice, he was so shocked. I would urge you to have your state require their own testing before allowing it in.

[BonesMS]

Here's a disturbing example:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/BP-chief-apologizes-for-small-rb-286267122.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode=


Ugh!

Best,

Richard

UGH is RIGHT!!!   

Bones

[Ales2]

I've also noticed that bullies get ahead in the workplace in alarming numbers....bosses only care about bottom line, not workers morale or cooperation among employees.  But with this realization - I had to ask the question - why?  I've noticed that when I've seen a co-worker (including myself!) have trouble with a bully boss - they usually become passive complainers. They go to HR and by complaining about their unfair treatment, the HR person decides they are petty, unable to interact well with co-workers, not productive because they are focused on this conflict rather than their position/work, not management material because they can't handle basic conflict. So, I'm learning that by not dealing with the bullies in a professional, assertive manner (either the bully will get scared that you can react professionally and go elsewhere or he retaliates telling you its time to move on) is the downfall of many otherwise smart, talented people. Also, if you got to HR AFTER you've asserted yourself and say - I'm not here to complain, I attempted to resolve a situation on my own and its escalated, I need your help in resolving this - the reaction you will get is totally different.  I know you have to be careful and not challenge a boss, but workplace respect is a separate issue and it can be presented that way. Bullies and Narcissists get ahead because while we don't ask to be treated badly, we allow it through fear and passivity.

[Sealynx]

If you go to our HR with a problem you are handed a 24 page document that needs to be read and filled out within 24 hours of the incident happening. One problem with HR is that they are still part of the company that is condoning the bully! Our complaint department is a joke.

I just watched the meeting between BP's Tony Hayward and the committee appointed to question BP. He kept refusing to answer and suppressing a smile. Even as he walked out he was smiling. As dying marine life piles up on our coast fleeing the oil spill she smiles like a kid caught stealing cookies and complains that he wants HIS LIFE BACK. Very N.

[teartracks]

Hi,

I'm not taking a side and I sure don't have any answers to this tragedy.  But I question seriously whether nationalized narcissism could be placated by anything other than narcissists.

tt

[Logy]

I have always worked at small companies (100 employees or less).  However, for the last 7 years my small company has contracted me to work on site for a corporation.  The largest employer in my state other than the state government.  The culture of arrogance, even among the "small" employees of the corporation, disgusts me every day.  Everyday courtesy is non-existent.  Self-promotion, belittlement of others, is the general culture.  One employee I was talking to even stated that the employees try to run over contractors with their cars (those like me, who work there but are not employees of the company).  He thought it was ok. 

I am just one person but when I decide to spend my money, I focus as much as I can on the businesses in my community who are locally owned.  Unfortunately, there are not many of those left.  Big corporation "strong arm" tactics with their suppliers has made it virtually impossible for a local business to sell for the same price.  As consumers we need to make a decision.  Are we willing to pay a little more money for the same product from a local business?  If we are not, then we need to be willing to suffer locally with lower wages working for the executives of big business.  And suffer the consequences when the narcissists make decisions.

I understand that many people in the Gulf Region depend upon BP for their livelihood.  And they should have, and deserve, their jobs.  They have worked hard for the company.  Because of arrogance, cost cutting to line the pockets of executives, and lack of concern for an area of the world BP isn't based in, they are losing their jobs. 

NBC Nightly News had a story on tonight about a small company, Ameripure Oysters.  A small, locally-owned company that supplied oysters to big corporations, like Red Lobster.  They shut down their business today.  It made me cry.  Wonder if the BP execs saw that story.

[Logy]

Oh, by the way.  My brother, the N, who I have mentioned in my posts, is employed by this company.  In a very high position.  He was very disturbed when he found out I was going to be working there.  I'm sure he didn't want his "lowly" family members walking the same halls as he.  In fact, when we meet by chance, he shakes my hand like I am someone he has never met and acts haughty.  When I called him on it at a family get-together, he said he was just being professional. My guess is that he doesn't want anyone to know that I am the "lowly contractor".

[sunblue]

The pervasiveness of narcissism in the corporate world is downright frightening.  I work for a serious N as well as others who have posted here.  What I find amazing as well is not just the opportunities these working world Ns have, their quick steps up the ladder, their lavish compensation packages and the way they treat those around them----but the extent to which those that put them in power do so.  What does that say about us, about the human condition today?  That we not only tolerate these Ns in the workplace, but reward them and allow them to wreak their special brand of damage on everyone who comes in their path.

Could not this escalating trend of Ns in the workplace be equally matched by the co-D version of those who put them in power, support them and reward them?  Because after all, it is not just one person who does so, there seemingly must be teams of leadership within these organizations who put these Ns on a pedastal, letting them make as many damaging decisions as they wish.

My personal work situation is the same.  Every single person who comes into contact with the N knows what she is....even the leadership in charge, yet they refuse to make any changes.  After a point, you can not only point the finger at the N, but those who insist on enabling him/her at the expense of everyone else.

Such a sobering, sad reality.

[Logy]

sunblue,
Insightful.  Why do we tolerate these N's?  Is it because they promise us riches?  How many of these have been in the news lately?  Promising the investor, who just wants to grow what little cash they have, that the N can support them?  Is it our own narcissism that decides we deserve them?  OR has the N taught us we deserve them to suck us into their web?
And so why is society so co-D?  Is it nature or nuture?
I would like to see research on this.
Logy

[Sealynx]

Thirty years ago I used to subscribe to a magazine that followed the negative things corporations did. I still remember an incident of corporate dumping where a U.S. cable manufacturing company mixed left-over heavy metals into fertilizer bound for India. It would have cost it $150. a ton to dispose of it properly. Instead they sent it to be dusted in rice paddies by barefooted children. The rice paddies were also farmed by oxen who ingested the oil through their feet. We knew well what mercury and lead did to people, animals and children.

People complain when businesses are regulated. And then even when they are as in this case, people are paid off. This has been going on for a very long time and there are a lot of N's involved. Who better to run an amoral entity.

[teartracks]

Hi Sealynx,

I'm frustrated and I hear the frustration in yours and everyone's posts on this thread.   These are just thoughts that race through my mind as I try to make sense of what is going on, using my limited, and largely uninformed big picture thinking.

Wasn't it revealed just a couple of years ago that numerous imports to the USA, from China, such as baby formula, animal food (god only knows what else and where else it went to), were laced with deadly toxins?   Is it prudent to assumed that narcissism is behind all such actions?   Narcissism is sinister enough, but could something even more sinister be at work behind the scenes?  What is it?

Where the BP oil spill is concerned, is it reasonable to think that the most culpable players/narcissists are the ones we don't see? Tony Hayward - CEO was the visible one.  I'm more concerned about those operating behind a thick veil of protection, the ones we don't see.  

According to the European financial database Amadeus, JPMorgan Chase is the No. 1 holder of stock in BP. That distinction also has earned the Wall Street bank the title of “Global Ultimate Owner” of the oil giant, as it owns 28.34% of BP. Next, at 7.99%, is Legal and General Group, a British-based financial services company with assets of more than $350 billion. Another U.S. investment firm, BlackRock Inc., owns 7.1% of BP. Other owners include the governments of Kuwait, Norway, Singapore and China.

Dang, it's so mixed up, I wouldn't know how to form a slanted view, let alone an accurate view.

tt




 



 

[Sealynx]

Yes TT,
I totally agree and if there is good in all of this it is that more people are beginning to see that there is little difference between our political parties and even the politicians themselves. Too many of them accepted money from Sachs and BP to do their bidding. We have sham regulatory agencies controlled by the entities they regulate and impressive words substitute for meaningful action when things go wrong. Meanwhile we have been manipulated into polarizing around simplistic emotional and religious issues that deflect our attention away from these serious N behaviors. We are given unpopular groups to oppose on quasi moral grounds so we can exhaust  hostile safely away from things of major importance to the world.

Karl Marx once said that "Religion is the opiate of the masses." I think that aptly describes the way corporations treat us. They use our expectation of moral behavior against us repeatedly. You only have to hear our mostly Catholic fishermen asking BP to "step up to the plate" and "do the right thing" to know that they still believe they are dealing with a moral entity. They don't see  their own values are being manipulated to work against them. How often have we allowed ourselves to be harmed because we gave an N the chance to "do the right thing?"

[mudpuppy]

I'd have to say that diagnosing a guy as a Narcissist based on his use of the term "small people" when English is his second language is a pretty thin reed.

mud

[Sealynx]

I don't see it as much a diagnosis as a comment on the corporate culture he is acting on behalf of.  Empathy is not in the BP vocabulary.