Editorial Review:
A provocative examination of the essential – and widely misunderstood--personality type of today's most innovative leaders.
What is it that Oprah Winfrey, Jack Welch, Martha Stewart, and Bill Gates all have in common? According to psychoanalyst, anthropologist, and consultant Michael Maccoby, it’s not just enormous success and celebrity – it’s narcissism. In The Productive Narcissist, Maccoby proposes a new paradigm of modern leadership and zeros in on one common character trait: the narcissistic personality. Challenging prevailing leadership theories, Maccoby argues that today’s most innovative leaders are not consensus-building bureaucrats; they are “productive narcissists” with the interrelated set of skills -- foresight, systems thinking, visioning, motivating, and partnering – that he terms “strategic intelligence.” Rejecting the negative stereotype of the individual who is destroyed by a pathological preoccupation with himself, Maccoby redefines the productive narcissist as the personality type who is best suited to lead during times of rapid social and economic change. At the same time, he makes clear that narcissistic leadership doesn’t always mean successful leadership and that narcissists lacking strategic intelligence are fated to crash and burn.
Beginning with an examination of the crucial role personality plays in the workplace and an analysis of the primary personality types (a questionnaire allowing readers to evaluate their own personalities is included), Maccoby makes an eye-opening case for how narcissism has been misunderstood and how throughout history narcissists have always emerged to inspire people and to shape the future. While narcissism can be extraordinarily useful—even necessary—for effective leadership, Maccoby shows how it also has a distinct downside when narcissists become unrealistic dreamers and harbor the illusion that only circumstances or enemies block their success. Strategic intelligence is the hallmark of the productive narcissist, and by elucidating its key qualities – and how they can be developed – Maccoby illuminates both what it takes for narcissists to truly succeed and how to work with them most effectively .
Based on over thirty years of first-hand experience consulting with business leaders around the world, The Productive Narcissist redefines the way we understand and relate to today’s leaders.
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Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
Changing the world personality  2006-06-29
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.
Interesting Take on The Narcissistic Personality 2006-06-28
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.
The Goleman antidote  2005-01-02
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).
Harnessing Narcissism 2003-11-16
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".
Insightful, thought-provoking, intriguing 2003-10-19
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.
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