How to Become a “Healthy Narcissist”
What Is Narcissism?
Narcissism is self-confidence in its extreme form and is often displayed as grandiosity and a sense of entitlement. Narcissism can be considered as a personality trait that occurs on a continuum and when excessive it interferes with healthy psychological functioning, says Dr. Seth Rosenthal, Harvard University, an expert in narcissism and healthy self-esteem.
The dark side of narcissism
Our societal obsession with ‘self-love’ is well documented. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter allow users to over-promote themselves, often edited in a positively skewed manner. People’s fascination and comparison with celebrities and social media stars often results in negative self-appraisal and unrealistic life expectations.
The benefits of being a ‘healthy narcissist’
However, there is such a thing as ‘healthy narcissism’. Successful leaders display healthy narcissist behaviours such as:
- Decisiveness
- Not afraid to stand up and publicly express their opinion
- Having ambition and drive
- Being confident in their own abilities
- Comfortable with authentic self promotion
How to become a ‘healthy narcissist’
- Be assertive and approachable
- Show empathy and project self-confidence
- Be open to receiving and acting on constructive feedback and advice
- Display executive presence and inspire others to emulate your leadership
- Exude poise, courage and conviction in your business decisions
- Take pride in your appearance, so you project a more professional demeanour
- Use professional networking sites like LinkedIn to highlight your strengths, employability and professional attractiveness
Engaging in self-promotion that is authentic and evidence based is a proven method to get promoted both internally and externally. For my executive clients, being headhunted on LinkedIn is one of the most common ways they are launched into more senior positions.
“Wanting to be Beyoncé or Jay Z is hard enough already, but when you are not prepared to work hard to achieve it, you are better off just lowering your aspirations” Digital Narcissism, The Rise of the Selfie and Dealing with Shameless Self-Promoters in the Workplace, Hogan.
