Narcissistic leaders can do great harm or good. That potential is amplified when leaders are talented, endowed, or otherwise empowered as by wealth or status. Our world is shaped by narcissism ("planet narcissism"), hopefully more healthy than pathological.
Leaders and influencers must feel comfortable having and, to an extent, desire to have their own ideas and images of shaping the world of others. Their inner motivations and gratifications vary, but the capacity to shape things for the social good, versus for self-glorification, is a game-changer.
“Gifted individuals are often identified as such not just because they have been born with, or acquired, special gifts, but also because it is believed that they will, in some manner, share these gifts with the world” —Desmet & Sternberg (2023)
Scholars have drawn attention to the plight of the victims of sociopathic, narcissistic leaders (Khorram-Manesh & Burkle, 2023), who have a considerable burden of suffering given the influence of executives, politicians, and the like. Opportunistic leaders, once ensconced, are hard to unseat.
In addition, autocratic, narcissistic political leaders often suffer from varying degrees of developmental arrest, typified by a preoccupation with gaining power, associated with earlier stages of life; usually such overpowering needs are tempered with time. Their leadership is associated with greater civilian casualties in illegal "hybrid" wars (Khorram-Manesh & Burkle, 2022), highlighting the risks of more effective pathological narcissistic leadership.
Narcissists may have more to offer society, however. According to Desmet and Sternberg (2023), some are “gifted narcissists1”, and those gifts may—under the right circumstances—counterbalance the risk.
1. Gifted narcissists as “2E”. They are considered “twice exceptional” (2E)—to borrow a term from the gifted and talented (G&T) educational vernacular. As with other 2E individuals, gifted narcissists require specialized attention due to having liabilities as well as gifts. Being 2E requires particular adaptations and support, and personalized attention, to mitigate negative developmental outcomes.
2. Not all narcissists who think they are gifted actually are. It’s important to distinguish between........