Narcissism has become one of the most discussed problems in modern workplaces. From domineering executives and self-promoting leaders to toxic corporate cultures built around status, competition and winning at all costs, narcissistic behaviour can have consequences far beyond the individual. It can undermine teamwork, damage trust, silence dissent and, in extreme cases, contribute to organisations becoming more concerned with protecting a leader’s ego than serving their employees, customers or wider community.
But what if narcissism is not simply a personality flaw? What if it is part of a much deeper human problem?
Australian biologist, author and founder of the non-profit Fix The World, Jeremy Griffith, offers a radically different way of looking at human selfishness, egocentricity and aggression. His biological explanation of the human condition argues that many of the behaviours humans struggle with – including our tendency towards competitiveness, insecurity, defensiveness and egocentricity – have their origins in an ancient conflict between our instinctive and conscious selves.
Applied to the corporate world, this perspective raises an intriguing question: could some of the behaviours we describe as narcissistic be understood as attempts to compensate for deep-seated insecurity?
The corporate attraction of narcissism
The corporate environment can provide fertile ground for narcissistic behaviour.
Business frequently rewards confidence, ambition, visibility and the ability to persuade others. Those qualities can be valuable. A leader needs confidence to make difficult decisions, ambition to pursue opportunities and the ability to communicate a compelling vision.
The problem begins when these qualities become detached from genuine purpose and are instead used to reinforce a person’s sense of superiority or worth.
A narcissistic corporate leader may become preoccupied with being admired, maintaining status, receiving recognition or appearing infallible. They may take credit for successes while shifting blame for failures. They may surround themselves with people who agree with them and regard criticism as a personal attack rather than useful feedback.
The result can be a workplace in which employees compete for approval rather than collaborate around a common goal.
This is where Griffith’s explanation offers a deeper interpretation.
From insecurity to egocentricity
According to Griffith, the human condition emerged from the conflict that developed when our conscious intellect became capable of questioning and deviating from our inherited instincts. Rather than simply following instinctive behavioural programs, humans acquired an intellect capable of experimentation, analysis and conscious understanding.
Griffith argues that this created an internal conflict between instinct and intellect, producing an underlying sense of insecurity and guilt. In his account, the resulting psychological struggle eventually manifested in characteristics such as anger, egocentricity and alienation.
This is significant when considering narcissism.
If a person feels fundamentally uncertain about their worth, one possible response is to seek external confirmation of that worth. Status, wealth, authority, admiration and professional success can become psychological reinforcements. The more insecure the underlying sense of self, the more important these external symbols may become.
In this interpretation, the narcissistic executive is not necessarily someone who simply thinks, “I am better than everyone else”. The behaviour may instead represent an ongoing attempt to convince themselves – and others – that they are valuable, successful and beyond criticism.
The boardroom can therefore become an arena in which an ancient psychological struggle is played out through modern symbols of power.
When success becomes self-protection
This helps explain why corporate narcissism can be so difficult to recognise.
Narcissistic behaviour can initially look like exceptional leadership. A highly self-assured executive may appear decisive, charismatic and visionary. They may be extraordinarily driven and willing to take risks that others avoid.
But when achievement becomes a means of defending one’s sense of worth, the organisation can gradually become an extension of the individual’s ego.
Success must continually be demonstrated. Competitors must be defeated. Critics must be discredited. Subordinates must reinforce the leader’s importance. Mistakes become intolerable because admitting one threatens the carefully constructed image of superiority.
The organisation consequently becomes less capable of learning.
Employees may stop telling leaders what they genuinely think. Bad news gets filtered out. Alternative perspectives are dismissed. Decisions become increasingly disconnected from reality because preserving the leader’s self-image takes precedence over discovering the truth.
This is not merely a problem of individual psychology. It can become a systemic corporate problem.
The culture that narcissism creates
A narcissistic leader can also establish a culture in which everyone is encouraged to behave narcissistically.
If promotions depend primarily on self-promotion, employees learn to advertise their achievements. If admitting mistakes is punished, people learn to conceal them. If internal competition is rewarded more than cooperation, colleagues become rivals.
Over time, the organisation can become increasingly status-driven.
The irony is that many businesses publicly promote values such as teamwork, humility, integrity and collaboration while simultaneously rewarding precisely the opposite behaviours.
Griffith’s perspective suggests that this contradiction is not surprising. If insecurity is a fundamental feature of the unresolved human condition, then organisations built by humans will naturally reproduce those insecurities unless they consciously move beyond them.
The corporate world does not create narcissism from nothing. It can amplify tendencies already present in human psychology.
Beyond labelling the narcissist
This does not mean that destructive behaviour should be excused.
Bullying, manipulation, exploitation and abuse of power remain harmful regardless of their psychological origins. Understanding why a behaviour occurs does not mean tolerating it.
But there is an important difference between condemning a behaviour and understanding its cause.
Calling someone a “narcissist” can sometimes end the investigation rather than begin it. We identify the behaviour and attach a label, but we may never ask why human beings are so frequently driven to seek superiority, admiration, wealth and status in the first place.
Griffith’s addresses that deeper question. His broader argument is that understanding the biological origins of our psychologically troubled state can remove the need for many of the defensive behaviours humans have historically relied upon.
That provides a very different vision for leadership.
From ego-driven leadership to cooperative leadership
Imagine a corporate culture in which leaders did not need constant admiration to feel worthwhile.
A leader who does not have to defend an insecure sense of self can admit mistakes. They can listen to uncomfortable information. They can acknowledge the achievements of others without feeling diminished. They can promote talented people without worrying that those people will overshadow them.
Most importantly, they can put the purpose of the organisation ahead of the preservation of their own image.
This does not require eliminating ambition or excellence. Rather, it suggests separating achievement from self-worth.
A psychologically secure leader can pursue extraordinary goals because the goal itself matters – not because winning is necessary to prove that they matter.
That distinction could transform corporate culture.
A different way of thinking about Narcissism
The value of applying Jeremy Griffith’s explanation to narcissism is therefore not that it provides another label for difficult executives. Its value lies in asking a more fundamental question about why human beings so often become preoccupied with themselves, their status and their comparative worth.
The growing discussion around narcissism is ultimately part of a much larger conversation about the human condition.
Those interested in exploring that conversation can join the Fix The World community on Reddit, where Griffith’s ideas and their implications for contemporary life are discussed. Griffith’s work has also attracted considerable attention and acclaim, including from scientists and other prominent thinkers cited by supporters of his work.
In summary, Griffith’s biological explanation raises an important challenge to conventional thinking: perhaps the behaviours we see as uniquely destructive – egocentricity, aggression, insecurity and the relentless pursuit of status – should not simply be condemned as individual failings. They need to be understood.
And if they can be understood at their source, perhaps the corporate world can begin to move beyond leadership driven by insecurity and towards something much more productive: leadership driven by purpose, cooperation, understanding and a genuine desire to create value for others.
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