Yes they live amongst us. Its a worry because its not always detectable and sometimes when it is, we tend to over come our eyes and almost choose not to see it. Everyone sneers at used car salesmen yet how is it there's still such an occupation? We know what some of them are like but we shelve it and our radar, buy the car & when we're let down, (which thankfully is not always) we see all the signs we conveniently chose to ignore.
The corporate psychopath has some parallels here. They can manipulate, they pounce on situations where emotions can be exploited, all the while being fairly dead to their own emotions. The can have a narcissistic streak looking for praise and highness or be more subtle and just collect higher office and reward but make no mistake, they will have worked their way to the top with hidden ruthless pursuit.
Does it happen in politics? Yes, yet to hear of a professional endeavour that is without it. Yes, they live among us. They're fairly intelligent, fairly ruthless not from overcoming emotions about doing others out of just reward not from overcoming feelings of guilt. No they generally have no feelings of remorse, regret or guilt whatsoever. But like autism, its has a spectrum and perhaps to an extent we all have a little corporate psychopath in us.
Mark Latham, probably not so much. Bold, brash, loud, unapologetic for sure. Subtle manipulator, using others emotions to help his own elevation? Perhaps but more so it looks like elbows out crash or crash through.
In one job I had I was going to be working with inmates of a high security prison. We did the day long orientation, toured the entire prison except the cells. Walked amongst the prisoners and yes sat through a training video. One of the biggest angles they pushed was grooming. Prisoners are 24/7 under constant watch, guards are on constant guard yet grooming happens and every now and then a guard is successfully groomed and talked into doing something they're trained to avoid. They manipulated and tricked into smuggling something in, providing favourable treatment and the list grows from there. Prisoners may or may not be natural born corporate psychopaths in a low job, but they soon learn the behaviour, learn the tricks and learn what rewards are available for them when successful. Even if its just a release from boredom.
If it can happen in a prison, if it can successfully work in a highly regulated environment with such close personal scrutiny then why can it not work anywhere. Why can't it work in the political system?
It can and hitting google you can find a number of sites that list the traits to look for.
Are they good or bad, well bad but properly contained they may actually be good. Sounds like a psychopath managing a psychopath but no, if there are tight fitting rules, people know them well and keep them then a person with a shade of psychopathy might be a key driver in getting things done but the trouble is, most garden variety psychopaths aren't out to chop people's heads off, but they are genuinely out to advance themselves at whatever cost to others. Cost to others is of no interest nor concern, the reward to the self is. When they seem emotionally empathetic, they're not. They're using a tool to open a door and gain access to that which they have not earned and that maybe reward or higher office.
I know of one journo/politician scenario where both have had a long history of grooming the other and its possible neither think they've been used. There's a lot more spotlight on the journo so if I was to point to one I think is the corporate psychopath, its probably the politician, or more so the politician.
Malcolm Turnbull is a very intelligent man. He may well be the smartest man in the room where ever he goes, but he's had some appalling judgement at times. Psychopathy though? Possible but I'm not 100% sure. Gillard, Rudd, Abbott, Bishop...yeah they could make the short list of highly likelies.
In WA...well there's a couple of contenders & they're not at the top of their game nor necessiarly in the highest office yet. There's been a couple of spectacular implosions including Buswell, Johnson, Nalder but whilst they may have been stand outs at various times it may not by psychopathy. Least likely Buswell who when working was said to be on his game nearly all the time and all over his portfolios. It was his out of hours performance that couldn't be contained by him or others that led to his downfall, but he was a good parliamentary performer, a bright light in his ministries and had he kept a clean sheet after hours is probably THE one most likely to have been remembered as our greatest Premier ever. It wasn't to be.
There are some folk who say nothing and nowhere is more political than inside the party, any party, all parties. That's the hot bed where the corporate psychopath will be spotted. Its not easy and its easy sadly to dismiss the signs, in fact it may be the closer you are to them, the much harder it is to see.
If you're semi close to them, google the list, learn the traits to spot them. If you're a journalist, here's is your play ground for earth shattering scoop. Whilst narcissistic self love is not uncommon in Parliament, its not everywhere and shouldn't be mistaken for corporate psychopathy. When you find it though, you find all the things that lead to WA Inc.
Why its hardest for the journos to spot? They're close to it, its harder to spot and if they've been groomed they won't know and its pretty much invisible to them. When pointed out to them they'll probably instinctively deny it and make excuses for the psychopath.
They live among us, they're heading to the top and most of us don't realise we're stepping stones.
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