How to Navigate the Disempowering Behaviors of a Narcissistic Boss

September 28, 2025 | Valerie Patrick |

An employee needs to navigate the disempowering behaviors of a narcissistic boss because there are many out there and failure to do so can be detrimental to their career. Psychological researchers find that narcissistic personality traits help people climb the corporate ladder but these same traits make them less effective as leaders.1 For example, narcissists are resistant to coaching and coaching is a proven technique to improve leadership performance. Leadership researchers find that the performance of subordinates is highest when the leader focuses on making subordinates better but narcissistic leaders do the opposite: they undermine and downgrade subordinates to make themselves look good.

Narcissism is one of many different types of leadership styles such as coaching, visionary, delegating, collaborating, and empathic.2 If you do not understand your boss’s leadership style, then it can be challenging to build a good relationship with your boss. If you can understand your boss’s leadership style, then you can translate that understanding into building a strong relationship with your boss through job performance and behaviors the boss views as supportive. A good relationship with a boss enables the boss to become an advocate for a subordinate’s career and be a resource to find mentors, sponsors, and new opportunities to support the subordinate’s career goals.

The narcissistic leadership style is the most difficult to navigate in support of career goals because the growth or improvement of subordinates threatens the narcissist’s need for attention and admiration. A narcissistic boss blocks the growth or improvement of subordinates by criticizing their work so the narcissist can feel superior. A narcissistic boss also maintains their superiority by holding onto power and not empowering subordinates. But an employee needs a base level of power to do the things needed to pursue their career goals such as taking a skill development course.

There are different types of power in the workplace. There are the types of power that are associated with position such as positional power, reward power, and coercive power.3 There are also types of power that do not depend on position such as expert power and referent power. A narcissistic boss relies on positional, coercive, and reward power to get others to perform tasks or work. A narcissistic boss keeps their power to themselves and does not give any power to subordinates so subordinates need to claim their own power when needed. Subordinates of narcissistic bosses need to rely on expert power and referent power to pursue career goals. Expert power is the degree to which others seek your input out of respect for your competence and referent power is the degree to which others seek your input out of respect for your character. This post considers how to determine if a boss has a narcissistic leadership style, the typical disempowering behaviors of a narcissistic boss, and the tactics to navigate a narcissistic boss in support of career goals.

How to Determine if Your Boss has a Narcissist Leadership Style

Narcissism, like other personality disorders, exists on a continuum from low narcissistic tendencies to high narcissistic tendencies. For example, autism, a different personality disorder, is measured by the Autism Spectrum Quotient or ASQ. The ASQ measures five traits associated with autism, a neurodevelopment disorder, on a spectrum from low to high tendencies. A high score on the ASQ is an indication of autism spectrum disorder or ASD and a medium-high score on the ASQ is an indication of Asperger’s Syndrome. Everyone has a score on the ASQ but not everyone has Asperger’s Syndrome or ASD. Narcissistic personality disorder or NPD is a mental health condition in which a person has an over-inflated sense of self-importance.4 There are inventories to help diagnose NPD such as the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory but a clinician is needed for an official diagnosis of NPD.5 Similarly, everyone has a score on the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory but not everyone has NPD.

A boss with a narcissistic leadership style would score high on a narcissism inventory like the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory.6 The Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory is a 60-item self-assessment that measures the tendency towards 15 different personality traits associated with grandiose or vulnerable narcissism.7 The 15 personality traits are acclaim-seeking, arrogance, authoritativeness, distrust, entitlement, exhibitionism, exploitativeness, grandiose fantasies, indifference, lack of empathy, manipulativeness, need for admiration, reactive anger, shame, and thrill-seeking. A description of how each of these traits looks in a narcissistic boss is as follows:8,9

  • Acclaim-seeking: they are driven to be successful so they tend to steal subordinate’s ideas and take credit for resulting recognition and reward
  • Arrogance: they need to display superiority over subordinates such as by associating with people they consider important so they expect subordinates to make extreme accommodations for important people such as suspending work to host executives, they belittle subordinates by criticizing their skills or actions in front of others so they can feel superior, or they view apology as a sign of weakness
  • Authoritativeness: they believe they need to take charge of most situations so they tell subordinates how to do a project that the subordinate is clearly responsible for
  • Distrust: they believe that others cannot be trusted or have malicious intentions so they tend to micromanage by monitoring subordinates excessively through time-tracking software, emails, or in-person surveillance
  • Entitlement: they believe they are special and deserve extra privileges so they tend to disregard rules and ethics or they might expect subordinates to run personal errands or work overtime without compensation
  • Exhibitionism: they need attention and validation so they tend to make things about themselves, dominate conversations, turn topics back to themselves, talk loudly, or seek ways to turn things into a competition that they can win
  • Exploitativeness: they are willing to use others to get what they want so they will take advantage of subordinates whenever they can get away with it such as blaming a subordinate for not doing something they told them not to do earlier
  • Grandiose fantasies: they are preoccupied with dreams of success, power, and idealization so they show preferential treatment to those who they feel can benefit them the most
  • Indifference: they lack concern for the feelings or well-being of others so they poke fun of emotions such as blaming a subordinate’s emotions for that subordinate’s shortcomings in performance
  • Lack of empathy: they are unable to understand or share the feelings of others so they downplay the role of emotions or sympathy in success or failure
  • Manipulativeness: they control or influence others for personal gain so they nitpick subordinate’s work to make subordinates feel incompetent, insecure, and dependent on them to tell them how to do their job
  • Need for admiration: they have a constant craving for praise and positive attention from others so they will go to great lengths to be right even when they are wrong such as not trusting data generated by or information provided by subordinates
  • Reactive anger: they have a strong and uncontrolled temper when facing criticism or perceived slights so they can go into a rage when they feel a subordinate has not treated them well
  • Shame: they experience intense feelings of humiliation and embarrassment when they fail or are criticized so they will make excuses for their bad behavior and they will lie or blame subordinates for failures or poor performance to make themselves look good while justifying the lie as how they remember things
  • Thrill-seeking: they enjoy taking risks and engaging in exciting, potentially dangerous activities so they seek new and exciting experiences even if they are a little frightening

The mark of a narcissistic leadership style is a pattern of behavior that reflects 6 or more of these traits. The goal is to spot a narcissistic leadership style not to diagnose narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) because a boss with a narcissistic leadership style may not have NPD.

Typical Disempowering Behaviors of a Narcissistic Boss

The typical disempowering behaviors of a narcissistic boss are the behaviors that diminish your expert power or your referent power. A narcissistic boss for the purposes of this post is a boss that displays a narcissistic leadership style. Expert power and referent power are the two types of power that do not depend on position. If you have a narcissistic boss and you also have subordinates, then a narcissistic boss can also diminish your positional power with your subordinates. The focus here is on expert power and referent power because the most effective leaders rely more on expert and referent power than positional power to maximize performance of subordinates.

Expert and referent power are two forms of power that do not depend on position so are accessible by those who report to a narcissistic boss. Expert power is the degree to which others seek your input or guidance because of your expertise or competence. Referent power is the degree to which others seek your input or guidance because of your character or trustworthiness. For example, I demonstrated both the competence and character needed to be an effective team leader so I was sought out by executives and colleagues to lead important meetings and strategic team efforts. My expert and referent power for leading teams exposed me to workplace opportunities to increase my impact and get exposure to important people I would not have otherwise met. Narcissistic bosses pose three primary threats to subordinate’s expert or referent power which come from their habits to outshine their subordinates, take all the credit but none of the blame, and distrust.10

One typical disempowering behavior from a narcissistic boss is authoritativeness which comes from their need to outshine their subordinates. An authoritarian enforces strict obedience to their authority at the expense of subordinates’ freedom. An authoritarian keeps power to themself so does not grant power to others. A narcissistic boss feels threatened when someone under their purview has power over others because that subordinate might outshine them so they will undermine a subordinate to diminish their expert or referent power. I learned from a mentor that my boss at the time had said I was not good at teamwork in a staff meeting. My mentor was higher ranking and confronted my boss with his direct experience of my high skill in teamwork and leading teams. I would not have known about my boss’s attempt to undermine my expert and referent power with leading teams if it had not been for my mentor.

A second typical disempowering behavior from a narcissistic boss is their tendency to take all the credit but none of the blame because of their need for acclaim and to be successful. I had a boss who manipulated me into forming and leading a team to demonstrate the performance of a new technology. My boss complained to me about how uncooperative the people he needed to demonstrate a new technology were so I suggested forming a team. My boss was skeptical and challenged me to prove him wrong. I formed and led the team with my boss as a member and within a few months the team demonstrated the new technology in a customer application. My boss was amazed. I would find out later that my boss was a co-author on a patent for the new technology. I set up a meeting with my boss to find out why I was not on the patent since I had led the team that demonstrated the performance of the new technology. My boss got angry claiming the new technology and the team to demonstrate it were his ideas. My boss took credit for my idea and my work forming and leading the team because he could not accept his failure to get the support needed to demonstrate the new technology.

A third and final typical disempowering behavior from a narcissistic boss is micromanagement driven by their distrust of subordinates. I had been reporting to a boss that gave me a high level of empowerment for my position as head of corporate sustainability but that boss resigned to pursue a new position with a different company. I met with my new boss who said he wanted sustainability to support the environmental compliance, health, and safety organization he was leading. I explained that the corporate sustainability strategy went beyond environmental compliance, health, and safety to included social responsibility and sustainability thinking to identify cost reduction and new business opportunities. My new boss instructed me to forget the corporate sustainability strategy and focus just on his organization and that he had a strategy. I had developed that corporate sustainability strategy about three years prior and had founded and been working with a Corporate Sustainability Steering Committee in pursuit of that strategy. My new boss was asking me to throw away three years of work and adopt his strategy because he did not trust that I would work to make him look good.

The bad news is that a narcissistic boss is talented at sniffing out and diminishing your expert and referent power which is not good for your career goals. The good news is that if you can spot a narcissistic leadership style, then there are tactics to navigate a narcissistic boss before too much damage is done to your career.

Tactics to Navigate a Narcissistic Boss

You need tactics to navigate a narcissistic boss because narcissistic bosses are adept at securing the protection of powerful executives and senior leaders in the organization so you are not going to get rid of them.1 The type of tactic that will most benefit you will depend on your career goals and your current situation. Career goals typically fall under one of the following five categories: professional development, career advancement, career security, career change, or professional advancement. Some illustrative examples of career goals in each of these five categories are as follows:11,12,13

  • Professional Development Goals: earn a professional certification such as a Certified Professional Facilitator, build your personal brand, or seek mentorship and guidance by building relationships with professors or accomplished industry professionals
  • Career Advancement Goals: advance to a leadership position, expand your professional network, or track your success
  • Career Security Goals: Develop in-demand skills, find new challenges in your current role, or consume new content from thought leaders in your industry
  • Career Change Goals: Cross-train in another functional area, master the art of interviewing, or start your own business
  • Professional Advancement Goals: Be a mentor or sponsor for someone else, foster team collaboration, advance to a leadership position in a professional association, or improve your work-life balance

The primary tactics to navigate a narcissistic boss in support of career goals fall under the three categories of protecting your peace, setting boundaries, and planning your exit. Protecting your peace applies regardless of your career goals because narcissistic bosses are authoritative, distrustful, manipulative, lack empathy, and do not care about the feelings of subordinates. Setting boundaries is particularly important for career security goals because these are survival tactics when you need to stay in a job. Planning your exit strategy is key for professional development, career advancement, professional advancement, or career change goals because the growth or advancement of a subordinate is threatening to a narcissistic boss who wants all the credit and attention.

You need to protect your peace when you report to a boss with a narcissistic leadership style regardless of your career goals. There are three primary tactics to protect your peace. One tactic is to document all interactions and incidents with your boss. You want to keep detailed records including dates and notes such as behavior, quotes, emails, decisions, requests, feedback, assignments, and performance evaluations. The detailed records are helpful when you need to seek support from human resources, a mental health professional, or a career coach. I have made use of all three of these resources and can vouch for their effectiveness when you have detailed records. A second tactic is to not ruminate during interactions with your boss by learning how to shift your attention in the moment and affirm to yourself that you are doing the right things.14 A third and final tactic to protect your peace is focusing on your well-being. There are social, physical, intangible, cognitive, and emotional aspects to well-being.15 Some ways to promote well-being include the following: nurturing relationships with friends and family, networking to sharpen your expertise, drinking plenty of fluids, exercising, healthy eating and sleeping, experiencing wonder, practicing loving kindness meditation, reading to deepen your expertise, experiential learning to grow expertise, doing puzzles like Sudoku and Wordle, tracking emotional health, and deep breathing to control your emotions.

You need to set boundaries when you report to a boss with a narcissistic leadership style to support career security goals. There are four primary tactics to set boundaries with a narcissistic boss. One tactic is to never say never because when a subordinate says “no” or “never,” a narcissistic boss interprets this as disloyalty and disrespect of their power.16 Saying “no” or “never” will escalate an interaction with a narcissistic boss so instead discuss challenges and ask clarifying questions for a given assignment in ways that respect their power. A second tactic is to be strategic about your availability because the more available you make yourself to a narcissistic boss, the more you will be meeting the boss’s needs and the less you will be meeting your own needs. The key to being strategic about your availability is communication and consistency such as not checking emails from the narcissistic boss after work hours or having a closed-door policy in the morning for work if you have an office. A third tactic is to protect your expert power by practicing self-promotion. You will need to track your kudos and accomplishments and develop a 2-minute pitch for chance encounters with executives inside and outside the company to practice self-promotion. An example format for a 2-minute pitch is as follows: I am [your name] and my contributions have included [list most impressive recent accomplishments]. I seek [qualities you look for in a job such as challenge] and I am looking for [describe desired opportunities]. The fourth and final tactic is to be clear about your role and responsibilities with a narcissistic boss and get support from Human Resources as needed to maintain this boundary of role and responsibilities.

You need to plan your exit strategy when you report to a boss with a narcissistic leadership style to support professional development, career advancement, professional advancement, or career change goals. You need to get away from a narcissistic boss if you are interested in career advancement or professional growth because these pursuits are threatening to a narcissist. My top recommendation for planning your exit strategy is to work with a career coach. A career coach can help you uncover what you want to do and how best to do it given the constraints and challenges posed by a narcissistic boss. A second recommendation is to practice strategic networking by being prepared and never missing an opportunity to go somewhere and meet people. You want to prepare for strategic networking by assessing ways you can increase your professional contributions and preparing questions to learn how others can help you accomplish your professional goals. You can network with the do-want-know-think technique as follows: find out what they do or their role and responsibilities, what they want or their career and project interests, what they know or areas of expertise, and what they think or their perspectives on key issues. Interject your prepared questions during the interaction and be helpful to them by connecting them with useful contacts or information. A third and final recommendation is to have a career development plan. A career coach can help you with a career development plan or there are other resources such as courses17 and books.

Summary of Navigating the Disempowering Behavior of a Narcissistic Boss

A boss with a narcissistic leadership style displays five signs10 that are problematic for the career goals of their subordinates. One sign of a narcissistic boss is they do not care about the feelings of their subordinates because of their lack of concern for emotions and their inability to understand or share in the emotions of others. A narcissistic boss’s low emotional intelligence translates to poor collaboration skills which limits the performance potential for them and their subordinates. A second sign of a narcissistic boss is they take all the credit and none of the blame because they are driven to be successful and feel humiliated when they are at fault so they blame their subordinates for their shortcomings or failures. A boss that steals the best ideas of their subordinates and blames them for failure is stifling recognition for subordinates and recognition is important to the advancement and growth of subordinates. A third sign of a narcissistic boss is they see their subordinates as tools that they can manipulate and exploit to realize their dreams of success and power. A narcissistic boss’s preoccupation with their own success leaves no desire to support the success of their subordinates because they use subordinates to achieve their own success. A fourth sign of a narcissistic boss is they constantly seek attention to feed their needs to display superiority, be admired, and be validated. A narcissistic boss’s need for attention especially from executives robs visibility from subordinates and visibility of your work to executives is a proven way to get access to new career opportunities. A fifth and final sign of a narcissistic boss is they want to outshine their subordinates which manifests as taking control of all situations, micromanaging subordinates, and belittling subordinates in front of others to make themself look better. A narcissistic boss goes to great lengths to look better than their subordinates to insure they get access to career advancement but not their subordinates.

Bosses with a narcissistic leadership style keep power to themselves and disempower their subordinates which limits the career growth of and opportunities for subordinates. Subordinates of a narcissistic boss, first and foremost, need to protect their peace by documenting detials of boss interactions, limiting rumination, and investing in their well-being regardless of their career goals. Subordinates of a narcissistic boss with career goals that focus on job security need to set boundaries including never saying never to the boss, being strategic about their availability to the boss, protecting their expert power through self-promotion, and being clear about their role and responsibilities to avoid job scope creep. Subordinates of a narcissistic boss with career goals focused on professional development, career advancement, professional contribution, or career change need to plan their exit strategy because career advancement and professional growth are threatening to a narcissistic boss.

References:

  1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomaspremuzic/2024/12/11/seven-things-you-probably-dont-know-about-narcissistic-bosses/
  2. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/boss-type#:~:text=While%20great%20bosses%20may%20share,you%20work%20with%20them%20effectively
  3. “5 Shades of Power: The Organizational Taboo” presented by Dr. Drea Zigarmi and Dr. Taylor Peyton Roberts at Association for Talent Development Annual Meeting 2018 on May 8th, 2018
  4. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662#:~:text=Overview,about%20the%20feelings%20of%20others.
  5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556001/ or Mitra P, Torrico TJ, Fluyau D. Narcissistic Personality Disorder. [Updated 2024 Mar 1]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
  6. Natalie Glover et al. The Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory: A Five Factor Measure of Narcissistic Personality Traits. Journal of Personality Assessment, 94(5), pages 500-512, 2012.
  7. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2021.1935533 or Qi Dai, Tadahiro Shimotsukasa & Atsushi Oshio | (2021) Short form of the five-factor narcissism inventory: A Japanese adaptation, Cogent Psychology, 8:1, 1935533, DOI: 10.1080/23311908.2021.1935533
  8. https://www.beenremote.com/remote-work/narcissistic-boss
  9. Miller, Joshua et al., The Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI): A Test of the Convergent, Discriminant, and Incremental Validity of FFNI Scores in Clinical and Community Samples, Psychological Assessment, 25(3), pages 748-758, 2013.
  10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mozjjq1mun4&t=21s
  11. https://asana.com/resources/professional-goals
  12. https://www.mentorcliq.com/blog/what-are-career-goals
  13. https://vcea.wsu.edu/student-success/2025/01/01/10-goals-for-your-career-journey-in-2025/
  14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xfygu8JdfiA
  15. Valerie Patrick, When Bad Teams Happen to You: Your Complete Repair Guide for Successful Teamwork, New York: Career Press, 2021, Chapter 1.
  16. Pat Heim, Hardball for Women: Winning at the Game of Business (RGA Publishing Group, 1992), page 52.
  17. American Institute of Chemical Engineers Career Discovery Workshop: https://www.aiche.org/ili/career-discovery

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