2_2_ScanMag_79_August_2015_Text.qxp_Scan Magazine 1 06/08/2015 23:56 Page 86
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On holiday with your good psychopath? By Paul Blackhurst, client director at Mannaz
Like many of you, I am sitting on a sunny beach and catching up with my reading. Between building sandcastles with my children, I have been engrossed in a book about psychopaths. Most of us think of psychopaths as being cold-blooded serial killers like Hannibal Lecter. Leading psychologist, Kevin Dutton suggests that many elements of the psychopath profile can be beneficial to the individual, and for society at large. In his book The Good Psychopath’s Guide to Success he defines your “good psychopath” and he gives plenty of tips for you to get in touch with him or her. He refers to psychopathic personalities as comprising of the following characteristics: Ruthlessness, fearlessness, impulsivity, self-confidence, focus, coolness under pressure, mental toughness, charm, charisma, reduced empathy and lack of conscience. If that list describes some of the senior managers in your organisation then that should not come as a surprise. Many successful people seem to show psychopathic tendencies. Dutton describes these characteristics as variables which we can learn
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to dial up or down depending on the circumstances. Good psychopaths, in his opinion, are able to manage these characteristics using their brain’s executive function of the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) to tame the unruly Amygdala, the immature, emotional centre of the brain. In this aspect, at least his book is on familiar ground. When we help clients to embrace conflict, to be more assertive and to engage in challenging conversations, we are working with just this concept. As individuals, if we can learn to understand what situations trigger our emotional responses, then we can learn to engage the PFC to make choices and to respond rather than react to people and events. As Viktor Frankl said in Man’s Search for Meaning, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Stephen Covey refers to this ability to respond (response-ability) as proactivity and most talking therapies focus on the principle that you are the creator of your emotions and your life. You can turn the other cheek, or take an eye for an eye. The
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choice is yours and the responsibility that comes with accepting that is enormous. Dutton’s book is co-written with Andy McNab, a veteran of the elite British SAS. According to Dutton’s tests, McNab is a psychopath, albeit a good and successful one. McNab was a highly decorated soldier, a successful author, businessperson and adviser. His psychopathic characteristics have helped him succeed in those very different fields. One of the keys to success is that psychopaths are less concerned than most of us about how other people see them. This allows them to reduce empathy when needed and to reduce worry about failure and rejection. That is definitely something I need to work on. As Michael J Fox said, “What other people think about me is none of my business.”
Paul Blackhurst, client director at Mannaz