The concept of a corporate psychopath is eerily recognizable, depending on your work history. It’s also notoriously misunderstood. The archetype of the manipulative, self-serving manager has regularly resurfaced in popular culture for decades, but concrete evidence supporting the wider concept is debatable. For example, a research study went viral in 2016 after estimating upwards of 1-in-5 business employees fit the “psychopath” bill, only to be retracted two years later . Additionally, psychiatrists widely agree that only about 1 percent of the general population truly can be considered clinically psychopathic.

That said, many of the people determined to claw their way to the top of the company ladder display at least some of the trademark psychopathic behaviors.…