This 6 page paper addresses the issues of leaders striving for power, which is illustrated by unethical decision making. The writer reports the changes in leadership styles among CEOs in the 1990s when anything-goes seemed to be the motto. The writer relates this to the narcissistic leader, one who is mostly adhering to the Machiavellian style of leadership. The essay then addresses the importance of ethical decision making for the success of the company. Bibliography lists 7 sources.
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Korten commented: "Corporate power has become even more concentrated and rapacious" (Gelder, 2002). Korten was referring to the number of mergers and the fact that they are increasingly larger and
many of the really larger mergers have been in media, banking, and agribusiness (Gelder, 2002). Korten believes that "corporations are playing God with genes for profit" (Gelder, 2002). Gelder added
that polls show 73 percent of adult Americans think corporations have gained far too much power (Gelder, 2002). Expanding the global marketplace set the stage for mega-corporations that can control
entire industries (Gelder, 2002). The CEOs of these huge corporations have the power and authorization to control more fiscal resources than most countries in the world (Gelder, 2002). With that
power, these executives also control lives (Gelder, 2002). Ethical decision making results in good lives and unethical decision making hurts everyone involved except the top executives of the corporation. This
point was made crystal clear with the recent Enron debacle. While most articles and books about leadership focus on the need for versatile, flexible and principled leaders for corporate
success, House of Mirrors: The Untold Truth About Narcissistic Leaders and How to Survive Them by McFarlin and Sweeney focuses on the seedier side of top executives and leadership (Buono,
2001). Here, the authors discuss those corporate individuals who pursue selfish agendas and who do so with a "pathological egoism" with no concern for those around them (Buono, 2001, p.
996). McFarlin and Sweeney call them "corporate vampires" who quite literally suck the life out of companies in order to realize their own goals (Buono, 2001). These are the power-hungry,
greed-oriented chief executives who are completely narcissistic and who devastate employee morale and motivation (Buono, 2001). Although the literature does not identify narcissistic leadership as a style of leadership, this