Empire Attire

Psychopathy, Leadership and Corporate Philanthropy

by: Otto Hanson, COO Empire Attire

I’m sitting on the last leg of my flight back from my visit to our factory in China, and couldn’t help but look back in amazement at the rate at which China is growing. In the five years since my last visit, the Middle Kingdom society has shifted dramatically: popular fashions are increasingly more risqué, BMW’s and Porches are taking over the streets, public infrastructure abounds. The General Manager of our factory is a young, hip guy in his late 20’s. He spoke impressive English, had a great sense of humor, and spoke brightly of his future, of China’s future, and of their company’s trend towards sustainable products. He very much reminded me of myself.

China is a place where, over the last 20 years, entrepreneurship has flourished, and huge swaths of wealth are being distributed to families that hither to knew nothing of wealth or power. This dramatic change is great for China, and great for the world in general. As China forges the next generation of world leaders (both political and corporate), one huge question sits in the minds of the rest of the world: how will they manage that power, and how will it affect the rest of the world?

Investigative journalist Jon Ronson writes in his new book, “The Psychopath Test” that, essentially, the world is run in large part by a small group of highly functional psychopaths that have climbed to the top of elite corporations and government institutions who lack the common controls and emotions that keep most of the rest of us in relative check. According to the book, an estimated 4% of the worlds business and political leaders are suspected psychopaths, wielding great psychopathic traits like superficial charm, manipulation, impulsivity, and lack of empathy as if they were swords bequeathed upon them to dominate the world below.

Intrigued by the idea, I pulled up a spreadsheet and, within a few hours, had a pretty good idea where many of my business colleagues, friends and associates stood. Luckily, nobody I knew scored high enough on the PCL-R Checklist (the industry standard psychopath checklist) to be considered a bonafide psychopath. There were some traits, however, that were clearly more common in my business rolodex than say, the rolodex of your average second grade school teacher. These traits were the following:

1. Grandiose sense of self worth—Indeed, one might argue that you must hold yourself in high regard to have enough confidence to succeed in the business world.

2. Impulsivity— People who are quick to react possess a higher tolerance for risk. The greater the risk, the greater the potential reward.

3. Glibness / Superficial charm— It’s no surprise then that those with a propensity towards glibness feel at home in the business world, and that those in the business world often learn to adapt a degree of superficial charm in order to succeed.

I don’t think the contacts I surveyed are anomalies in the business world, and I don’t think they are bad people either. What is certain though is that many corporations are run by fearless executives with such an affinity for risk that they’re waging world peace and security on extremely excessive deals (look at the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2007-2008, the general debt crises around Europe and the USA, and the ensuing chaos around the world’s financial markets). Their tendencies toward manipulation and impulsivity are granting them absurd government contracts and forging outrageous profits at the expense of the taxpayer. Luckily, we know that many corporations are run by executives with deep moral consciences and high regard for the rest of the world.

As someone who strives to find balance between corporate philanthropy and the profit motive, I can’t help but hope that Empire Attire is able to grow responsibly and give back to the world. While at our factory I was thrilled to see that the people who manufacture our gloves seem genuinely happy and well paid. There was music blasting, the room was exploding with warm natural light, everyone was well into their twenties and they were chatting, laughing and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Being there, and seeing it for myself, really made the difference.

While the leaders of the world may possess some of the characteristics prevalent in the real psychopaths out there, there’s still hope for good leadership and positive impact. Our manufacturing outfit is run by good, responsible, and wholesome people. We’d like to think Empire is too. As China grows and entrepreneurship flourishes there can be comfort in knowing that it’s happening in a time when consumers are, more so than ever before, demanding a higher standard of corporate philanthropy in exchange for doing business.

Empire Attire is a young company, and we don’t yet have the budget to pay impressive dividends to many philanthropic causes. However, in our own modest ways we’re taking steps in that direction. For now, knowing that we’re putting food on the table for dozens of families in China, and knowing that many of our materials are sourced sustainably feels pretty good. Also, knowing that our company is run by the 96% of business leaders who don’t score high on the psychopathy checklist, and the same can be said for our largest manufacturing partner, feels great, and quite relieving. As my plane descends just beyond the great Rocky Mountains, and into the Denver Metro area, sunshine piercing through storm clouds onto Boulder down below, my question to our fans, friends and customers is this: what’s important to you? Where do you think a company should focus its philanthropic efforts? What other corporations, big or small, do you admire for their corporate social responsibility and why?