Reflections On The Road To Respect

As I frequently tell my audiences, one of the most encouraging findings with respect to workplace bullying is the evidence that establishes the effectiveness of coaching in shifting the behaviour of individuals who routinely engage in disrespectful, power based behaviours. The exception, I point out, would be that small percentage of individuals, 1% within the general population, who can be classified as psychopaths; individuals who are incapable of changing their behaviour because they lack empathy and feel no remorse or guilt, regardless of what they say or do.Until recently, I assumed that we would find that same small percentage reflected in our workplaces. Apparently I was wrong. According to research by Dr. Robert Hare, the Canadian psychologist who co-authored Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths go to Work, the likelihood of finding a psychopath in your senior leadership team is 4 times higher than within the general population.It seems that contemporary corporate culture, particularly within the fin