Snakes in Suits

From the BBC

Psychopaths are defined as a person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behaviour without empathy or remorse.

We normally associate psychopaths with death but they're not always in prison but they could be in your office right now.

You can spot them quite easily in the workplace - so you may want to think about people you know . They interview well, they get into organisations by using people as pawns, sweet talking patrons and creating conflict. They can learn to use ordinary words and to reproduce the pantomime of feeling but the feeling itself does not come to pass.

Professor Hare, along with colleague Dr Paul Babiak, has developed a questionnaire which can enable people to identify which desks those smooth-talking, manipulative colleagues might be hiding behind.

Is your boss a psychopath? Here are just some of the tell tale signs :-

They are :-

manipulative
lack specific goals
have superficial relations with people
are impulsive
are irresponsible
crave power and prestige
lack empathy
lack remorse
lie easily
have predatory instincts
are cool under pressure
seek excitement and thrills
take credit for the work of others
fly into rages

"I don't see any difference between the people I meet in prison and those in business," according to Professor Hare

Nor do i see too much difference either when i think of most of my bosses in Royal Mail .

( i remember one boss who claimed that you are not a real manager unless you have papered a member of your family )