The Psychopath Test

“Lots of successful people rebelled against their teachers or parents!” I had prompted. “There’s nothing wrong with that!”

got a dent in his car

“You’ve had some success. You’re like me. When you reach a certain level, jealous people go for you. Right? They lie about you. They try and cut you down. You did what you had to do to get where you’ve gone. We’re the same.”

“Screw them,” Al said. “They’re just jealous. You do what you have to do. So, you understand?”

And so the morning continued, with Al redefining a great many psychopathic traits as Leadership Positives.

“If you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else will. You’ve got to believe in you.”

“The people you work with are not your friends.”

If you need a friend, get a dog.

“Sociopaths love power. They love winning. If you take loving kindness out of the human brain, there’s not much left except the will to win.”

One was Martha Stout, from the Harvard Medical School, author of The Sociopath Next Door. (You may be wondering what the difference is between a psychopath and a sociopath, and the answer is, there really isn’t one. Psychologists and psychiatrists around the world tend to use the terms interchangeably.) They are everywhere, she said. They are in the crowded restaurant where you have your lunch. They are in your open-plan office.