Michelle: A study of 203 high-potential executives found that nearly four percent fit the clinical profile of a psychopath. Mark: Whoa, hold on. Four percent? The rate in the general population is only about one percent, right? Michelle: Exactly. Four times higher. It suggests the person in the corner office might not just be a tough, demanding boss—they might be fundamentally wired differently. Mark: That is… deeply unsettling. It makes you look at every high-flyer in a new light. Michelle: It’s the entire premise of the book we’re diving into today. This is Snakes in Suits: Revised Edition by Paul Babiak and Robert D. Hare. Mark: And this isn't just any pop-psych book. The author duo is a powerhouse. Robert Hare is the world's leading expert on criminal psychopathy—he literally created the PCL-R, the diagnostic checklist they use in prisons. And Paul Babiak is an industrial and organizational psychologist. Michelle: It’s like a criminal profiler and a corporate consultant teamed up to write a field guide for the modern office. They wanted to understand what happens when these predators trade a prison jumpsuit for a designer suit. Mark: And their book opens with a story that shows exactly how it happens. It starts with a candidate named Dave, who seems almost too good to be true.

Michelle: Precisely. The story is set at a rapidly growing tech company, Garrideb Technologies. They're desperate to hire good people, fast. In walks Dave. He’s wearing an expensive suit, has a firm handshake, a winning smile, and an answer for everything. He completely charms the receptionist, the HR team, and the senior executives. Mark: Okay, so he’s smooth. A lot of people are smooth in interviews. That’s the point, right? To sell yourself. Michelle: But this is different. It's a performance of a lifetime. During his interviews, he tells the HR staff, "I’ll stay as long as you need me, so whatever you need, please, that’s why I’m here." He mirrors their language, he praises their strategic plan, he makes them feel like they’ve found the one. The VP of new products, John, is blown away. The hiring manager, Frank, is so eager to land him that he ignores the standard protocol. Mark: What protocol did he ignore? Michelle: The HR director, Melanie, suggested they get all the interviewers together to compare notes, because one of the lab managers had a weird feeling about Dave, saying he seemed "too good to be true." But Frank is under pressure. He wants to fill the role. So he takes Dave to lunch and offers him the job on the spot, even sweetening the deal with a sign-on bonus. Mark: And of course, Dave accepts. Michelle: He does. And everyone, especially Frank, is thrilled. They think they've just hired a superstar who will solve all their problems. They don’t realize they’ve just willingly opened the door and invited the fox into the henhouse. Mark: This is fascinating because it feels like the company is just as much a victim of its own desperation as it is of Dave's manipulation. Is that a key idea in the book? Michelle: It's absolutely central. The authors argue that psychopaths are opportunistic predators. They thrive in environments that are chaotic, fast-paced, or undergoing major transitions—like mergers, acquisitions, or rapid growth. These situations create cracks in the system, and psychopaths are experts at slipping through them. Mark: So they're like social hackers. They're not breaking down the door; they're looking for an unlocked window. They probe for vulnerabilities in a company's 'human operating system.' Michelle: That’s a perfect analogy. Their primary tool is what the book calls "impression management." They are chameleons. They study their target—in this case, the company—and construct a mask of the ideal employee. They lie with a conviction that’s breathtaking because they feel no guilt or anxiety about it. It’s not just lying; it’s a complete lack of the internal alarm bells that the rest of us have. Mark: But how is this different from someone with narcissism or just a ruthless ambition? I feel like we hear 'psychopath' thrown around a lot. Michelle: That's a great question, and the authors are very clear on this. They talk about the "Dark Triad" of personalities: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy. Narcissists are defined by their grandiosity and need for admiration. Machiavellians are cynical and manipulative for gain. But psychopaths are the most dangerous because they combine the traits of the other two with a profound lack of empathy and a shallow emotional range. They don't just want to win; they often enjoy the game of controlling and duping others. They feel nothing for the people they harm. Mark: So the narcissist wants you to tell them they're great. The psychopath doesn't care what you think, as long as you're useful to them. Michelle: Exactly. And once you're no longer useful, the mask drops.

Michelle: So Dave gets in the door. But getting hired is just Phase One of the psychopathic playbook. The real damage happens next, in what the authors call the manipulation phase. And the case of a woman nicknamed "The Pit Bull" is a terrifying example of this. Mark: The Pit Bull? That doesn't sound like someone who relies on charm. Michelle: Not at all. This is Helen. She was hired to turn around a failing division of a financial services company. Unlike Dave, her style wasn't smooth; it was domineering and aggressive. She got results, fast. The numbers went up, and the board loved her. Mark: So what was the problem? She sounds effective, if a bit tough. Michelle: The problem was how she got those results. She created a culture of fear, firing anyone who questioned her. And behind the scenes, she and her close friend, Ned, were cooking the books and siphoning company assets into an offshore account. Mark: Wow. So this was outright fraud. How did she get away with it? Michelle: This is where the book's model of "pawns and patrons" comes in. The psychopath, upon entering an organization, quickly assesses everyone. They identify "pawns"—people they can use and manipulate—and "patrons"—influential people who will protect them, often unwittingly. Helen's patron was the COO, Gus, a weak and ineffectual manager who was easily flattered by her success. He protected her from scrutiny. Her staff were the pawns, too terrified to speak up. Mark: So she built a shield around herself using the company's own power structure. It’s like she turned the organization against itself. Michelle: Precisely. And it almost worked. The fraud was only uncovered because of one person: Lynda, a young, ethical accountant who noticed the irregularities and had the courage to report them. She was the "Organizational Police," another role the book describes—the people whose job it is to enforce rules, and who often spot the psychopath first. Mark: Thank goodness for Lynda. It sounds like without her, Helen would have just kept going. Michelle: She would have. And this brings us to the devastating conclusion of Dave's story, which shows the final phases—manipulation and abandonment—in the most brutal way. Mark: I'm almost afraid to ask what happened to Frank, the manager who hired him. Michelle: It's a corporate horror story. Frank asks Dave to pull together data for a huge, career-making presentation to the executive board. The night before he's due to fly out, Frank discovers that the entire report Dave gave him is plagiarized, copied directly from an industry magazine. Mark: Oh, no. That’s a nightmare. Michelle: Frank panics. He can't reach Dave. He spends all night scrambling to create a new, legitimate presentation from scratch. He gets on the plane, exhausted but having averted disaster. When he lands and gets to the hotel, he runs into his boss, John, in the lobby. And John is beaming. He says, "Frank, I got the presentation you sent over. It’s brilliant! You’ve knocked it out of the park!" Mark: Wait, what? How did his boss get a presentation? Michelle: Frank is just as confused. And then his boss says, "Dave sent it to me. Said you were swamped and he wanted to make sure I had it. You know, that kid has really got the right stuff." Dave had sent the plagiarized version directly to the boss, making it look like he was being helpful, while setting Frank up to take the fall. Mark: That is cold-blooded. It’s a perfect trap. Frank can't call out the plagiarism now without blowing himself up. Michelle: He's completely cornered. And it gets worse. Frank eventually confronts Dave, who masterfully spins a web of lies, framing it all as an "honest mistake" and a misunderstanding. He’s so convincing that Frank, against his better judgment, starts to doubt himself. But later, Frank and his boss John do some digging. They find out Dave's degree is from a diploma mill, he has a history of back-stabbing, and he's been stealing credit for another employee's work. Mark: Okay, so they finally have him. They're going to fire him, right? Michelle: They decide they have to. They march down to the CEO's office to deliver the news. As they approach, the door opens, and out walks Dave, smiling. He's just been promoted to Frank's job. Frank is fired the next day. The final scene of the story has Dave at home, looking out at an old oak tree with a dead limb, and he raises a glass and says to his wife, "Sometimes you just have to cut out the deadwood. Life is good." Mark: That is infuriating. Frank did everything right, he uncovered the lies, and he's the one who gets fired. It feels completely hopeless. What can you even do against someone like that? Michelle: It does feel hopeless, and the book is realistic about the challenge. It says your best defense is a good offense, but not in the way you’d think. The first step is self-knowledge: understand your own triggers and vulnerabilities. Are you a people-pleaser? Do you avoid conflict? Psychopaths will find and exploit that. Mark: So, harden yourself. Michelle: Harden your reputation. Document everything—every meeting, every promise, every directive. Psychopaths rewrite history, so you need a written record. Build alliances with respected colleagues and, if possible, with upper management. A strong reputation is harder to attack. And finally, understand that HR is there to protect the company, not you. They can be a resource, but their loyalty is to the organization. Mark: It sounds exhausting. It sounds like you have to become a political operator just to survive. Michelle: In a way, yes. You have to learn to play the game, because the snake in the suit is playing for keeps. The authors even developed a tool, the B-Scan 360, to help companies spot these behaviors, because they recognized that traditional performance reviews often miss them entirely. They reward the charm and overlook the chaos.

Mark: So, after all this, what's the big takeaway? Are we all just doomed to be pawns in their game if we're not hyper-vigilant? Michelle: I think the book's ultimate message isn't one of paranoia, but of powerful awareness. These individuals succeed because they operate in the dark. They exploit our most basic social assumptions—that people are generally honest, that they feel guilt, that their words mean something. Their power comes from our disbelief that someone could be so empty of conscience. Mark: So by understanding their playbook, we take away their biggest weapon: the element of surprise. Michelle: Exactly. We can't cure them, and we can't change them. But by recognizing the patterns—the intense charm, the blame-shifting, the creation of pawns and patrons, the chaos they leave in their wake—we can make our workplaces less hospitable to them. We can build cultures based on real performance and accountability, not just on a good story. Mark: That’s a much more empowering way to look at it. It’s not about becoming cynical; it’s about becoming smarter. Michelle: It is. And it leaves you with a really powerful question to ask about your own workplace. It’s a question the book prompts you to think about. Mark: What’s that? Michelle: Just look around and ask: who gets rewarded here? Is it the quiet, competent, collaborative team player? Or is it the charming, highly visible, self-promoting soloist who always seems to be at the center of the drama? The answer might tell you more about the health of your organization than any financial report. Mark: That's a powerful thought. We'd love to hear your own 'snake in a suit' stories, or how you've dealt with them. Find us on our socials and share your experiences. The more we talk about this, the less power they have. Michelle: This is Aibrary, signing off.