What They Definitely Don't Teach You in Business School

"Charm and generosity mixed with a grand vision attract followers while psychopaths still consolidate power. Divide and conquer by rewarding insiders and demonizing outsiders. Remove regulation and control the flow of information. Rule by fear once dominance is secure. Rewrite history through myth making to whitewash their atrocities."

We just had a director with these traits roll in to the company and out within 2 years. We ran a large project scheduled to he launched. He made people cry at meetings (because he was pushing them to work 12+ hour days), launched a poorly-planned and poorly-executed project, and left a week after his bonus hit his bank account with 1 week notice.

When he was hired (an IT director), I saw that his resume was filled with job roles that lasted 1 or 2 years. In addition to this, he claimed to have been a software engineer for a decade and he didn't even know the basics about software or development (something I don't think you would forget). Lots of red flags that I saw almost immediately, but were somehow ignored by all management at the top.

It ended up working out in my favor. My contract was going to be cut after the launch, and now that everything is in chaos, I will probably get another year out of it.