Heal to Lead

3The Wound in the Room

DURING A SEMINAR in January 2022 entitled “Mental Illness or Adaptation?” I had the opportunity to ask Dr. Maté how unhealed childhood trauma impacts organizational leaders. He responded with a quote by Robert Hare: “Not all psychopaths are in prison, some are in the boardroom.” He continued:

When you actually look at the study of business executives and politicians, you find a lot of sociopathic characteristics—more than the rest of the population—because they can succeed in this crazy culture. A lot of these people are very driven, traumatized individuals who have to be in control, who have to demean others. They have to have more power all the time to enhance their undernourished sense of self. And our society rewards these people. We call them prime ministers and presidents and business executives. It's the nature of our toxic culture that will keep this going. Look at something like climate change. I don't think anyone still disputes that climate change is happening, but there are people who are still pursuing profits and directly contributing to [climate change]. Yet, since they're behaving this way by way of legitimate businesses, they can [indirectly] kill millions and be called brilliant free marketeers. So that's the nature of the society that we live in. And this is what's called normal.¹

While calling some low-conscious business leaders psychopaths might seem provocative, the characteristics of both of these personality disorders is rooted ...