Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work

Revised and updated with the latest scientific research and updated case studies, the business classic that offers a revealing look at psychopaths in the workplace—how to spot their destructive behavior and stop them from creating chaos in the modern corporate organization.

Over the past decade, Snakes in Suits has become the definitive book on how to discover and defend yourself against psychopaths in the office. Now, Dr. Paul Babiak and Dr. Robert D. Hare return with a revised and updated edition of their essential guide.

All of us at some point have—or will—come into contact with psychopathic individuals. The danger they present may not be readily apparent because of their ability to charm, deceive, and manipulate. Although not necessarily criminal, their self-serving nature frequently is destructive to the organizations that employ them. So how can we protect ourselves and our organizations in a business climate that offers the perfect conditions for psychopaths to thrive?

In Snakes in Suits, Hare, an expert on the scientific study of psychopathy, and Babiak, an industrial and organizational psychologist and a leading authority on the corporate psychopath, examine the role of psychopaths in modern corporations and provide the tools employers can use to avoid and deal with them. Together, they have developed the B-Scan 360, a research tool designed specifically for business professionals.

Dr. Babiak and Dr. Hare reveal the secret lives of psychopaths, explain the ways in which they manipulate and deceive, and help you to see through their games. The rapid pace of today’s corporate environment provides the perfect breeding ground for these "snakes in suits" and this newly revised and updated classic gives you the insight, information, and power to protect yourself and your company before it’s too late.

Let's say you're about to hire somebody for a position in your company. Your corporation wants someone who's fearless, charismatic, and full of new ideas. Candidate X is charming, smart, and has all the right answers to your questions. Problem solved, right? Maybe not.

We'd like to think that if we met someone who was completely without conscience -- someone who was capable of doing anything at all if it served his or her purposes -- we would recognize it. In popular culture, the image of the psychopath is of someone like Hannibal Lecter or the BTK Killer. But in reality, many psychopaths just want money, or power, or fame, or simply a nice car. Where do these psychopaths go? Often, it's to the corporate world.

Researchers Paul Babiak and Robert Hare have long studied psychopaths. Hare, the author of Without Conscience, is a world-renowned expert on psychopathy, and Babiak is an industrial-organizational psychologist. Recently the two came together to study how psychopaths operate in corporations, and the results were surprising. They found that it's exactly the modern, open, more flexible corporate world, in which high risks can equal high profits, that attracts psychopaths. They may enter as rising stars and corporate saviors, but all too soon they're abusing the trust of colleagues, manipulating supervisors, and leaving the workplace in shambles.

Snakes in Suits is a compelling, frightening, and scientifically sound look at exactly how psychopaths work in the corporate environment: what kind of companies attract them, how they negotiate the hiring process, and how they function day by day. You'll learn how they apply their "instinctive" manipulation techniques -- assessing potential targets, controlling influential victims, and abandoning those no longer useful -- to business processes such as hiring, political command and control, and executive succession, all while hiding within the corporate culture. It's a must read for anyone in the business world, because whatever level you're at, you'll learn the subtle warning signs of psychopathic behavior and be able to protect yourself and your company -- before it's too late.

“Only a fraction of psychopaths are in prison. The rest thrive in the many target-rich environments that make up society, including business, religious, political, and social organizations, and the Internet. Snakes in Suits blows their cover and arms the reader with knowledge and insight. This book is a must read for those in the criminal justice system and will impact economic crime investigations worldwide.” - Staff Sergeant Matt Logan, Ph.D., criminal and investigative psychologist, Royal Canadian Mounted Police

“An important and valuable contribution and a seminal work. This book reveals how today’s fast-paced business climate is often the perfect environment for individuals who can take advantage of the lack of organizational controls in rapidly growing companies.” - Peter Heinze, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology, Ramapo College of New Jersey

“Snakes in Suits convinced me that ethical core values and ‘foolproof’ accountability systems will not protect today’s organizations from being duped and plundered if leadership ignores the psychopath, who is ideally adapted to exploit any value, from greed and vanity to altruism and good will. It’s a survival manual for coping with the hidden psychopaths in our midst.” - Henry Richards, Ph.D., adjunct clinical professor, psychiatry and behavioral sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine

“Snakes in Suits is a compelling primer on how to defend oneself against psychopaths in the business workplace.” - Winnipeg Free Press