Reader mailbox read: The Psychopath Workout

A reader by the name of Kim send me this email:

“Max,

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your book last month. On your Chapter on psychopaths, you’ve cleverly described those traits and the three CEO commandments.
Your tale of your former banker Mark Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette where you coin the term BOSS as Be Of Special Service gave me a a lot of pause. I needed to reflect on that.

In Chapter 15 “The Psychopath School” where you say that “everything is just really a stepping to everything else” I have you accurately describing my boss. Uncanny!

With my boss now, I have the problem of him throwing me on a development project away from my real work, or core work I should say. I need to be back on track as a Cost Accountant at the nutraceutical company where I work. If you have any suggestions for me it’ll be much appreciated.

P.S.

Lol-ed at your frankness when you recollected seeing that parked Aston Martin Vantage. Hilarious! It could have been me who had the same reaction.”

Kim

Quote of the day: “The passing of years hardens a man to the simple joys of life.” -Marcus Crassus, Spartacus

Answer

Kim:

Thanks for reading my book and for your kind words. In this book as well as in everything on this blog the emphasis is on practical. There are always nuances, but if I am able to develop a pattern so much better. So in your situation you have a boss that put you to work on something unrelated, perhaps marginal or foreign to your normal tasks and job duties.
This is what I sometimes describe as the “psychopath workout”. If your boss is a psychopath or has psychopathic tendencies and he/she needs to keep you busy to stay out of his way, he’ll give you a job that stresses you out exponentially, keeps you out of your loop, and generates friction or frustration.

A variant of this tactic is “small game” or levering you down to close your advancement opportunities. If you are a Cost Accountant, were you close to being promoted? Controller, Treasurer, anything?  If your boss keeps you on a hamster wheel “working out” he’s derailed your direction and stunted your progress.

As I wrote numerous times throughout the book, bosses live for their own survival. It’s their progress. Their well-being. Their own lucky star. We need to be cognizant of that.

If you feel you’re getting nowhere with that project, drop it. You are wasting your valuable time and your company’s. Go to his boss and make a case for the poor leadership of your boss. If you feel he’s made you work on a dud, he could have been setting you up and digging your grave. On the other hand, it could be he inadvertently pushed you on a wrong track.  Has he listened to your objections? (I assume you’ve raised your objections with him.)

Bosses will make you play the small game to keep you out of the “big game”.

I wouldn’t take menial, secondary tasks that are outside my scope of work. I wouldn’t accept a transfer or demotion disguised as a promotion.

It sounds that you were wronged. The psychopath workout is no fun.

Since you’ve read my book, you are now in the best position to understand the game of power.

A successful career is applied power game.

Welcome to the game.

P.S. This answer will appear as a paid post on the blog, but I’ll also direct-reply it to your email address.

P.P.S. On this blog we have many recommenced readings. Allow me to include this one for you, Logically Fallacious: The Ultimate Collection of Over 300 Logical Fallacies (Academic Edition)