Narcissists in The Business Coaching and Thought Leadership World

Narcissists in The Business Coaching and Thought Leadership World

There is a very famous business coach/thought leader/motivational speaker; you may know him. He teaches people mind-over-matter by encouraging them to walk on hot coals; he hosts live events with thousands of attendees (which sell out fast for big bucks), and many women have accused him of making inappropriate sexual advances and sexually harassing them. (This is fans and staff. ) Some have even said, that he berated abuse victims. Yes, he is incredibly successful in his career, has a huge following, but he is a narcissist.

Narcissists are often successful in business because they are ruthless; they don’t care about anyone else but themselves. If you boost their ego, they will love you, but if you show that you are vulnerable and didn’t feel emotional supported or seen by them or that they didn’t help you, that’s when they get mean and ugly. Narcissists are incredibly vain; they are always focused on themselves, even if they don’t like themselves. They often did not feel emotionally supported as children, so they have no problems giving you tough love.

There are many coaches/thoughts leaders today who are narcissists and yet their businesses are booming.

Why?

Because they are successful in business and people want to learn from those who are uber successful.

I remember a point when I didn’t know this man, but I heard a lot of people talking about him and being excited to attend his workshops. Finally, I saw a video of his and it was intriguing, but I was left with a weird, unexplainable feeling and I thought, “Why is he so successful?” At that time in my life, I didn’t know any men in my life who were narcissists. I knew women, but somehow I didn’t recognize it at first with a man. I got sucked in like everyone else with his smooth talking videos and interviews with overly confident business advice and stories of business success. But as an energy worker, I felt into the energy and I didn’t like his energy. It was abrasive. I never had any desire to work with him, to attend his virtual or in-person events.

It wasn’t until I realized that a guy friend of mine was a narcissist that I realized this coach was a thriving narcissist. I saw how everything he did was to pump up his ego and how misogynistically he treated women. When reports came out about how he had sexually harassed and acted sexually inappropriately to women who worked for him I saw how he was abusing his power.

I remember seeing a video of him that they showed on the news of him pushing a woman at one of his events while he was coaching her and the look of confusion and fear as she tried to smile to show that she was cooperative. It reminded me of a time that a psychologist repeatedly pushed me when he couldn’t brainwash me. He was trying to break me down so that I would accept his thoughts, instead of my own, and I felt this coach was doing the same thing with this woman breaking her down so that she would lose her inner guidance.

It is very important that we are discerning as entrepreneurs about the people we wish to work with. There are too many coaches emotionally abusing women and men who are abusing their power with women. We shouldn’t care if they are glossy, polished, rich or successful; we should care about their character and how they treat us, if they treat women with respect or if they want to keep us in a submissive role.

It’s time for female empowerment! It is unfortunate that many of the popular thought leaders today are narcissists. We need more women to step into leadership and lead with empathy, integrity, and love!

Comment below. Have you encountered narcissism in the thought leadership world or in your personal life? Did you see the red flags right away or were you fooled?

If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment and join my list to be informed of upcoming blog posts, click here.