ABSTRACT
Many leaders dominating business today have what psychoanalysts call a narcissistic personality. Although Sigmund Freud recognized that there are an almost infinite variety of personalities, he identified three main types: erotic, obsessive, and narcissistic. Psychoanalyst Erich Fromm proposed a fourth personality type, which has become particularly prevalent in today's service economy. Fromm called this type the "marketing personality", and it is exemplified by the lead character in Woody Allen's movie Zelig, a man so governed by his need to be valued that he becomes exactly like the people he happens to be around. When it comes to leadership, personality type can be instructive. Erotic personalities generally make poor managers: They need too much approval. Obsessives make better leaders: They are operational managers, critical and cautious. Indeed, even productive narcissists are extremely sensitive to criticism or slights, which feel to them like knives threatening their self-image and their confidence in their visions. Narcissists are almost unimaginably thin-skinned.
