Narcissism and psychopathy are so fascinating because they can simultaneously help individual leaders advance their careers while hurting the people and organizations they lead.

Why we love psychopaths: Let us now turn our attention to the other major dark-side trait. Psychopathy is often discussed in connection with leadership, particularly when it comes to famous political and business leaders. Unlike narcissism, which is widespread, psychopathy is rare. And yet few toxic character traits have attracted as much public fascination and media attention as psychopathy has—even though only about 1 percent of the general population is thought to have psychopathic tendencies.

Interestingly, toxic cultures can be regarded as the product of psychopathic leaders, because leaders tend to create cultures in their own image. In that sense, psychopathy is self-perpetuating.

To be clear, many charismatic people are neither psychopathic nor narcissistic, in the same way that many psychopathic and narcissistic people have absolutely no charisma. But when these darkside traits are lubricated with charisma, they can make leaders pretty lethal. The more we rely on charisma as a marker of leadership potential, the more we risk ending up with toxic leaders who are exploiting their charms and influence to grab power and manipulate their followers.

Empathic leaders’ ability to see problems from other people’s perspectives makes them less self-centered and more flexible in problem solving.