The fear is mother to the act.
Let’s talk about that most persistent of boss myths: that the tougher they are, the more effective they are. This nonsense is related to the “strongman” myth in politics, which assumes that authoritarian leaders are somehow superior at getting things done. There’s that tired line about how Benito Mussolini, the brutal fascist dictator of Italy known as Il Duce, got the decrepit Italian trains to run on time. Except he didn’t. What worked so well in fascist Italy wasn’t the rail system; it was Mussolini’s propaganda machine.
The workplace version of such propaganda is called hype, and I am here to tell you that the effectiveness of autocratic bosses is the purest of pure hype. Sure some short-run matters get taken care of right away, and certain metrics may tick upward from time to time. But that type of workplace regime, just like the political despot’s, is only made possible through paranoia and oppression, which run counter to productivity.
I’ve worked directly under these would-be Mussolini’s—il duce bosses—and it ain’t pretty. To be clear, I don’t call them “il duce bosses” to make light of the monster Benito Mussolini or to normalize his horrific and murderous regime. On the contrary, I make the comparison to expose the underlying impulses of such bosses—their inner autocrat—and to remind us what their behavior becomes when taken to its extreme. There’s no soft-pedaling the heinousness of Mussolini, and—while the scale may be reduced—there should be no soft-pedaling the feckless vileness of il duce bosses.
On the outside people may see il duce bosses as visionaries cracking the whip to get things done. Behind the scenes, though, it’s a different view altogether. Since few can question the il duce boss or even make suggestions, everything must be born of their brilliant mind. And since this il duce boss is not likely to be some sort of genius with a monopoly on good ideas, mistakes will happen. So, who will have to pay for those mistakes? Well it won’t be il duce! These guys are just frauds through and through.
What’s more, such bosses usually are battling intense feelings of inferiority and self-doubt, what we call “imposter syndrome,” which in their case is, in fact, warranted. But instead of working on themselves, they overcompensate by acting superior.
The resulting cognitive dissonance between their outward swagger and their real self-view renders them easily manipulated by unsavory and sycophantic characters who stand to gain from their relationship. I’ve witnessed the toughest of bosses controlled like a puppet with a hand shoved up its skirt. Worse still, such relationships frequently rely on mutual coverups and corruption that aren’t necessarily illegal but are still unethical. Both parties use each other, locked like parasites in some sort of symbiotic death coil.
Invariably, il duce bosses are rife with paranoia but rarely about those actively exploiting them. Instead, their web of suspicion snags others. This paranoia damages both the boss and their organization, yet they fear that they cannot survive without it.
For il duce bosses, there is no virtue higher than personal loyalty. Everyone quickly learns that they must demonstrate their fealty to il duce via abject “loyalty signaling” just to get by and that loyalty to the organization itself must be secondary to loyalty to the boss. Meanwhile, we encounter an irony: that truly dependable workers who just want to do their jobs and who refuse to debase themselves by bowing and scraping get branded as “disloyal.” Go catch a production of Shakespeare’s King Lear to see how that works out. Thus it always is with tyrants.
So, how does this paranoia come about? Let’s look at a few prime causes:
1. Psychological projection
I’ve covered this before regarding workplace bullies who have much in common with il duce bosses.
Projection is when you accuse others of your own faults, often unconsciously. It’s a defense tactic. The version il duce bosses deploy works this way. Since the boss is consumed by the need to obtain power, they figure everyone else must be too. In this mindset, there is no such thing as virtue. Since I’m conniving, canoodling, and concealing, the internal logic goes, then these behaviors must be widespread, so I must suspect every one of the same! The boss’s failure of empathy or even just simple observation feeds their distrust and paranoia.
2. Imposter syndrome aka inferiority complex
I hit this one already, but it bears repeating. While occasional self-doubt can be a source of healthy humility for some, il duce bosses are tormented by chronic feelings of inferiority, which they then conceal with false bravado. Google some images of the original il duce himself, Benito Mussolini, and check out his classic pose: lips tight, chin awkwardly raised, and eyes focused on the middle distance. I’ll bet your autocrat boss has their own telltale pose that screams to the world, “I am overcompensating for my inadequacies!” It’s the very look of the paranoid imposter.
3. Control freakery
Most little Mussolinis start out as standard-issue micromanagers who pry and interfere and just can’t let anything go. For these folks there can never be enough control.
Perfectionism runs rampant with them, but since perfection is impossible to attain, they only guarantee themselves continual failure, which reinforces their imposter syndrome.
Control freakery has its own inbuilt paranoia. I’ve long had a saying: “if you stick your thumb in every pie, then all you do is ruin a lot of pies.” Well, someone must take the blame for all that mouthwatering ruination, right? It can’t be il duce, so it must be someone else, right? Maybe there is a saboteur in our midst, right? Thus is the logic that paves the road to Paranoia City.
4. Vulnerability to manipulation
I mentioned this before as well. It is another driver of paranoia. When the boss is all hardshell on the outside, chances are they’re all mushy on the inside, like a Mento candy, albeit considerably less freshmaking. This contrast makes them susceptible to exploitation. Il duce bosses sense the manipulation but cannot admit weakness. Besides the relationship is symbiotic. So, the boss looks outward, ignoring the real culprit and suspecting the unsuspecting innocent. Yes, their paranoia is well warranted, but it is entirely misdirected.
Here’s the upshot. These workplace tyrants, il duce bosses, are seething masses of deception, delusion, megalomania, monomania, and anxiety. What is more, they must sense how weak they really are, which contributes to their inferiority complex and subsequent paranoia. They’re being played by their closest lieutenants and by their own feelings of inadequacy.
Worse still, their world is a series of ironic reversals:
Their need to control is thwarted by their very efforts to control.
Their drive for perfection becomes an endless loop of failure.
They project themselves onto others, and then lash at shadows to compensate for their own self-loathing.
Their most trustworthy team members become the most untrusted, and vice-versa.
Their greatest fears become their constant reality.
How does one escape this feedback loop of paranoia and neurosis? As Victor Frankl writes in Man’s Search for Meaning, “The cue to cure is self-transcendence.” Otherwise, without such an act of intentional and intensive self-improvement—a rising above oneself or, using Frankl’s language, “transcendence”—the il duce boss’s paranoia will finally leave them miserable, isolated, and filled with even more self-doubt. Just like Mussolini, the original Il Duce, on his last day.
What are your experiences with despotic bosses? How did they reveal their level of paranoia?
Truly strong leaders are not riven with suspicion and paranoia because they learn to trust themselves and others, and I can help.
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I look forward to hearing from you.
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I’m Dr. Jim Salvucci, an author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant. I served higher education for 30 years as an English professor, dean, and vice president before founding Guidance for Greatness to guide young bosses to become the next generation of great leaders. I’m a certified Tiny Habits coach as well as a certified Thrive Global coach and life coach and hold leadership certificates from Harvard University and the Council of Independent Colleges in addition to my Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. Central to my leadership philosophy is that all great leaders are decent humans as well as great teachers, guiding their people and their organizations through values toward success. My goal is to guide today’s young leaders to become the next generation of great leaders by offering practical strategies on values-driven leadership.
Look for my new book, Greater than Great: How to Excel in Leadership through Learning, Logic, and Life to Make a True Difference in the World, in early 2025!
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