If you are confused by the underhanded behaviour of your line manager, a peer, a subordinate or a key stakeholder in another team then it's entirely possible you are dealing with a narcissist. Do not underestimate the damage someone with narcissistic traits can do. They will actively pursue project failure, misuse people, time and money, even put an entire organisation in genuine financial peril.

I recently I was chatting with a senior leader about their frustration around leading organisational change. No matter how much conversation took place and no matter how many people outwardly agreed the change was required: Why was it so difficult to get those that agreed to execute?

Elon Musk’s approach to turning Twitter from an ideological bot ridden financial car crash to a financially stable trustworthy global town square is fraught with controversy. Many commentators have no understanding of what’s involved to drive the level of change Twitter requires. If we lay out the facts: Is changing Twitter to X an effective organisational transformation model?

If your team, department or company is about to embark on a transformation OR already embarked on one and progress is stalling, then it's highly likely your organisation lacks Strategic Thinking. This manifests similar to an Ant Mill Death Spiral, a continuously rotating circle of ants repeating their vicious cycle until they die of exhaustion. Business leaders can also succumb to this phenomenon.

If your team, department or company is about to embark on an Digital Transformation OR has already embarked on one and progress is stalling, then in either case it's highly likely you have failed or will fail to consider Organisational Readiness for execution. In 2021 Forbes reported 70% of digital transformations fail, so it’s highly likely you will join the 70%.

The further up an organisational hierarchy you go the more likely you will encounter Narcissists, Sociopaths or Psychopaths. You may even have one or more in your social or familial circles. Regardless of where they sit in your life you will benefit from learning how to spot and manage them. You might find it surprising to know we can also learn a lot from them to improve our lives.

If you or your team regularly find yourself debating the merits of Learning & Development within your organisation to secure funding for L&D initiatives, find it's an uphill battle, then it's likely you’re framing the problem vs solution in a way that failed to demonstrate measurable value add. However, with some basic maths we can demonstrate L&D is a necessity.

If you and your team are responsible for Learning & development, are marginalised or ignored, regularly have your budget cut or receive no budget at all, then it's highly likely you have failed to demonstrate an ROI. CIPD & Forbes regularly publish articles and reports, when combined demonstrate why Learning & Development is typically not taken seriously as a strategic investment.