Learning to Love Your Inner Bad Guy- How to Use Dark Personality Traits in Early Leadership Education

Keywords: Leadership, Management, Dark Triad

Abstract: This session will discuss leadership inside the framework of the Dark Triad (Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy) as a tool for understanding how these traits impact leadership styles in contemporary management. The application of this session focuses on teaching undergraduate students in management who are unexposed to traditional leadership theory and application. After presenting a theoretical framework, we will assess the group’s dark traits. Using the most prevalent dark trait as a group selection criterion, we will break into groups to solve a managerial problem via a case study. After discussing the impact of trait-driven decision-making, we will discuss teaching implications.