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One of my favorite maxims is “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you”. I generally apply it the quote to government, but in a business world pretty well wrapped up into pseudo-new-age “secrets”; it helps to remember that you can’t “positive think” your way out of every situation. All the good vibrations in the world are not going to make some people behave with honor and integrity. In business, there are people whose ill will and appetite for destruction cannot be satiated. These are the entrepreneurial sociopaths.It’s no wonder to me that criminals and entrepreneurs have similar personality traits. We entrepreneurs are not get in line, play by the rules, and do what we’re told kind of people. By nature entrepreneurs have big egos. I do, and odds are you do, too. After all, we got into this game knowing the failure rate and audaciously thinking we were uniquely qualified to beat it. Something about us says we’re different, and we know better. The problem with bad natured entrepreneurs is that they are in fact the sociopaths of the business world, and often times it’s only short leap for them to the criminal world. The same ego that drives them to go into business in the first place, can lead some to believe that they operate by their own set of rules, often to the detriment of others and they don’t think twice about it. The key is being able to tell the difference between the typically self-confident entrepreneurs like you and I, and these entrepreneurial sociopaths.Entrepreneurial sociopaths abound at least in part because they enjoy very high profile successes, especially early on. The entrepreneurial sociopath has a very different and limited worldview that invalidates all others. He has little or no self-doubt (eventually, this will be his undoing). He has his own internal moral compass that defines its own true north. Basing all of his actions on this faulty instrument, he bases all of his actions upon it and early on it produces the results he expects. His worldview and behavior do not stand up well to objective criticism, and his self-esteem is far too fragile to handle it. In the beginning nothing he does amounts “hill anyone wants to die on” rather than confront the guy, people stay out of his way. Emboldened, he will display incrementally bolder and socially unacceptable behavior. Though respectable people will notice “red flags”, they’ll dismiss his impertinence as quirkiness, or the incidents as flukes rather than the dangerous developing patterns that they are.The entrepreneurial sociopath becomes much more dangerous at this point. At this stage, the cat’s out of the bag, but it’s too late. His perceived power and position seem to legitimize his behavior. It gives others a sense that they’re observing something real, that his actions have a basis in reality, or natural law. They do not. This phenomenon gives a sense of hopelessness to his foes, and provides a growing band of sycophants with a “new reality”. His foes look on with wonderment and dismay while sycophants feel everything he does is to be emulated. It’s very frustrating for decent people to watch because everything he’s doing is clearly inappropriate, and there’s a surreal kind of upside down-ness to the whole world in which these people operate that seems to be spilling over into our world. It can even get to the point where society seems to confer a kind of legitimacy to their lifestyle, and agrees without examination with his logic, and certainly does not challenge him. That’s because they appear to have a lot of good things going on. They are always charismatic, and self-confident, sometimes intelligent, and persuasive. We're initially attracted to these people because we perceive that they have something we lack. They're often viewed with secret admiration, and even envy.Their downfall will be that they manage to persuade themselves of their own deluded PR. It is at this point that he will do something so stupid, or intolerable, or offensive to others that he will self-destruct rather than correct course. Individuals like this often blow up in spectacular, even public fashion. This is the part that’s fun to watch. It's why people cheered when the high-flying dot com executives who were throwing million dollar kid's birthday parties on the company share holder's dime finally began to be frog marched out of their expensive homes in handcuffs. It’s why attendees at Ken Lay’s funeral were more likely to be there to make sure, than to pay respects. Sure, these people may have temporarily inspired those around them and sucked them into their “wonderlands”, where they were dizzy and disoriented by their success. In fact, superficial success validates everything these kinds of people do. It’s all they, their cohorts, and groupies need as proof of the validity of everything they do. For the entrepreneurial sociopath, success excuses his behavior, and his bizarre self-concept becomes a substitute for reality. He is surrounded by supporters who worship him and believe he can do no wrong. These loyalties often persist even when their empire is crumbling. The community may even admire him, and justice rarely pursues him.His incredible drive and ambition to achieve success is very attractive in spite of the fact that he has no qualms about how he goes about it. People see the energy, drive, and focus- qualities entrepreneurial sociopaths seem to possess in abundance—and they secretly wish they had these same qualities. Decent people and especially non-entrepreneurs cannot understand this properly. To us, the right thing seems so obvious yet the entrepreneurial sociopath deals with evidence that he may be mistaken about things with a selective perception of the world around him. He ‘compartmentalizes’ negative events and ignores their consequences. The entrepreneurial sociopath dismisses reality in favor of his own worldview. He deals with critics by rationalizing his own behavior and attacking their credibility. He’s developed a way of thinking that lets him behave immorally, even illegally by demonizing the forces arrayed against him, and there are forces arrayed against these people in the late stages of their self-destruction.Like Al Pacino’s character, “Scarface” the first victims go without justice, or even a notice by the rest of the world. Later, gradually more powerful people are offended and a united front begins to develop between the unlikeliest of allies. Insignificant at first, but growing in power, determination, and ferocity as the months and years go on; soon the “trail of bodies” rises up against him. When the world caves in on the entrepreneurial sociopath, he’ll still be surrounded by admirers who are driven by their own nefarious motives, who will adopt his pattern of thinking and dealing with the world. After all, the people around him have two choices in dealing with him: leave, or be ostracized (for now). However, he’s constructed an empire with do defenses for the day of trouble which will surely come. When he’s down, the scoundrels who surround him will kick him; and the weak minded who were initially taken in by him will flee. Since his fragile ego requires that he attract only those he has influence over, he won’t have anyone left when his influence dissipates. His response will be to recruit new minor-league players and attempt to rebuild his empire. They’ll be powerless to do anything for him. Eventually, his reputation will precede him and the recruiting efforts will get substantially more difficult. He will neither stop, nor repent. Do not think that the entrepreneurial sociopath will ever give up, or give in. He won’t. He is the type of person who, if arrested and jailed, will be protesting his innocence the whole time, doing TV interviews and writing books from prison. Whether actually finally losing a lawsuit, or being jailed, or fined when his spectacular world finally blows up, the one thing he’ll never be is sorry.Part II: Dealing With The Entrepreneurial Sociopath coming soon…
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