Customer Reviews

The Productive Narcissist: The Promise and Peril of Visionary Leadership

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In these confusing and uncertain times, the cry goes out for more visionary leaders. We need men and women who can lead us out of the darkness of despair and short-term Wall Street thinking into the clear air of vision, goals, and high achievement. Enter the narcissistic leader. Narcissists admire themselves, they believe in themselves. They have complete confidence in themselves, even though they may think they can do more than they really can.

The dictionary tells us that narcissism is "a psychological condition characterized by self-preoccupation, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in self-esteem." Maccoby-a psychoanalyst, anthropologist, and consultant-takes us further. He explains that "narcissistic leaders are not a product of their time; rather, they are a product of their personalities, and are psychologically suited to rise, and fall, during disruptive times." Sometimes their grandiosity serves them-and their organizations-well...especially if they (or their organizations) are protected by counterbalancing aides or confidants. Sometimes that grandiosity can be their downfall.

In this enjoyable and education book, Maccoby describes several psychological styles and how they influence leadership behavior. He concentrates on the productive narcissist, results-focused aggressive leaders who can valiantly lead their organizations to the brink of destruction. The good news---bad news juxtaposition is explored in page after page, with enlightening examples from the lives of historical figures like Napoleon to today's leaders whom we read about in the newspapers daily. Not only does he name names, but Maccoby goes deep into who these leaders are, what they did, why they did it, and the impacts of their behavior. It's a fascinating read that will have you bobbing your head with understanding and insight.

This book will be valuable to leaders-and not just narcissists. Human resource professionals, executive coaches, and venture capitalists will find the knowledge in these pages to be quite useful. A self-test, with full explanation of scoring and meaning, adds value to the book. Index.

Dr. Maccoby takes much of our wishful thinking about great leaders and presents a compelling and realistic contrast. His work is grounded in excellent illustrations of what leaders are like "who want to change the world."

Almost all of us have worked with leaders we admire and who are also hard to get along with. Dr. Maccoby takes us into their world and explains what is happening. He also has good ideas for how you, as a subordinate, can work the most effectively with them and under them.

I highly recommend the book for any leader or consultant who wants to take a look at how creative leaders really do innovate and change things. It is contrary to the narrow research of Jim Collins and points out that Collins' work really misses the boat in understanding the innovative corporation and the innovative leader.

Wow! Now this is a book about what leadership really is! Real leaders are narcissists; they have an inner drive to influence others and they like power. Now, narcissism can manifest itself into positive or negative leadership, as Maccoby explains.

Successful leaders are not warm and fuzzy types; they succeed because they can take tough decisions on difficult matters, oftentimes ignoring or not listening to others. They are mission driven and will do what's necessary to get the goal done. This book flies in the face of Daniel Goleman and others who have jumped on the emotional intelligence bandwagon (claiming that the stuff of leadership is empathy and emotional intelligence). According to Maccoby this stuff is "wishful thinking" and not what great leadership is made of (e.g., Bill Gates is the prototype narcissist with an EQ of zero).

The book teaches how to harness malignant or pathological narcissism. Narcissists are driven, visionary, ambitious, exciting and productive, and if handled properly - an asset to the corporation. While I do not share the author's view - the book is an impressive achievement and of use both in the academic and in the corporate setting. Sam Vaknin, author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited".

My home library shelves are cluttered with many of the best selling books that present varied and conflicting leadership theories. Very often, those best selling theories are presented in popular and simplistic terms that appeal to wishful thinking but are not very applicable in the workplace. Maccoby cuts through the leadership literature clutter with a very clearly reasoned and persuasively presented vision of leadership. It is a very insightful and integrated vision based on 30+ years of practical field research and experience as a consultant, anthropologist, psychologist and leadership coach. As a Director of Human Resources with 20 years of experience, I found Maccoby's description of the narcisisstic leader and other personality types to be a useful aid to understanding CEOs, Presidents, Vice-President and other leaders who were difficult to relate to and eluded explanation. Maccoby's self-inventory and descriptions of Freud's and Fromm's personality types are also pragmatic tools for any managers and would be leaders who are interested in understanding themselves and in developing their ability to partner effectively with other personality types. Maccoby's elegant writing style and use of entertaining poignant illustrations from productive narcissists we know and love make his analysis of the personality types and strategic thinking entertaining,lively and dynamic... without losing sight of what is practical. What you learn from reading this book may not leave you feeling warm and fuzzy, but it is very useful.

Michael Maccoby's fascinating book shows that narcissism is normal and productive in the visionary leaders he describes and analyzes. Even as a colleague who knows his other books, I can say honestly this is a bold and stimulating book. It is well written and enjoyable to read. He describes clearly why at this time of economic transformation these visionaries are playing such an important role in society, business, and science. Maccoby gives insights into the life stories and innovative work of such leaders as Henry Ford, Jack Welch, Bill Gates, Frank Lloyd Wright, Steve Jobs, Esther Dyson, Andy Grove, Steve Case, Craig Ventner, among others whose names are well known and in the media almost daily. Many books talk about people suffering from malignant narcissism who are so sick they could not lead corporations or make groundbreaking discoveries or creations. Michael Maccoby has written about normal narcissistic character like that of visionary leaders such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle, and Mohandas Gandhi. Maccoby shows why these leaders are effective, and also how to work with them. The book includes a survey which readers can take to understand themselves in terms of the four normal types of character the book also describes, narcissist being one. Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor, University of Southern California, an authoritative writer on leadership himself, says about this book: "An original and insightful addition to leadership studies. Maccoby redresses a balance long needed to fully understand the practice of leadership."

As I write this, Arnold Schwarzenegger was just elected governor of California in a chaotic and unprecedented recall election.

Could anyone have forseen it?

If you had read Michael Maccoby's book you might have.

California's new "governator" has a classic Narcissistic personality-- in short, making him a charming, creative strategist focused on leaving a legacy.

Can Schwarzenegger "give back to California" all he says the state has given him?

Or does his stunning election success bear the seeds of our future disaster?

For the sake of all Californians, I hope that Schwarzenegger himself has studied Maccoby's book-- just as he may have studied the "Fuhrer princip" and body-building manuals in his youth.

Maccoby used his personal and professional experience as consultant for different corporations and settings in changing the view of narcissistic leader from negative to more positive one. He emphasized the importance of the role of the personality in the workplace. The book focuses on personality types, their weaknesses, and their strengths, and how to understand those types in the work settings. Maccoby asserted that the productive narcissist has many positive characteristics that enable them to improve the quality of the work. Also, he emphasized that strategic intelligence has a major role in the success of productive narcissist. The book provided a good guide of how to work with a narcissist leaders and how to understand the four types of personality: erotic, obsessive, marketing and narcissistic.

This is a good book for discovering the differences between the four different personality traits and how the erotic, obsessive, and marketing personalities relate differently to the narcissistic personality. The author does a good job in defining the narcissistic characteristics and arguing why these characteristics should not always be looked upon as being negative. The author explains well why narcissists act the way they do. Therefore, this book can provide some great insight to anyone who has/has had a narcissistic co-worker or boss. The author uses a lot of examples from his experience as a consultant for over thirty years, his working with a Mexican Village during the time of upheaval because of the Revolution, and other interviews and readings about narcissistic leaders. The one downfall of the book is the authors repetition of stories throughout the book.