Monday, 25 February 2013
Here’s a scary fact about the prevalence of sociopaths, also called
psychopaths: Dr. Robert Hare, the psychologist who developed the
Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), says that approximately 1% of the
general population meets his definition of a psychopath. But in a study
of 200 high-potential executives, he found that 3.5% of them fit the
profile of a psychopath. That means there are 3.5 times a many
psychopaths in corporate offices as there are on the streets.
One of them, in my opinion, is Carl R. Greene, former executive
director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA). I’ve posted
several articles about him since he was fired from the agency that he
ran for 12 years in August 2010.
Why was he fired?
Well, there were the six sexual harassment complaints filed against
him. Greene directed the agency’s lawyers and insurance company to
settle three of them, for over $1 million, without informing the board
of directors.
Then there was the hostile work environment Greene created. His rage
was legendary. Anyone who stood up to him was fired, demoted, or
relocated to some outpost in a crime-ridden neighborhood.
Then there was the “unapproved abandonment of his duties.” When the
media reported that Greene’s luxury condominium was in foreclosure after
he failed to pay the mortgage for five months, he stopped showing up
for work. Greene disappeared for a week—no one knew where he was.
Looked the other way
The PHA board of directors apparently knew Greene was an abusive
executive—after all, one employee, after being berated by him, went home
and dropped dead. They may also have known about his inappropriate spending of agency funds, such as handing out $800 Tumi duffel bags to 20 staffers who attended an annual PHA conference. But they seemed to be willing to look the other way, because Greene got results. MORE
