Snakes in Suits, Revised Edition

Understanding and Surviving the Psychopaths in Your Office

By: Paul Babiak PhD, Robert D. Hare PhD

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

All of us at some point have - or will - come into contact with psychopathic individuals. The danger they present may not be readily apparent because of their ability to charm, deceive, and manipulate. Although not necessarily criminal, their self-serving nature frequently is destructive to the organizations that employ them. So how can we protect ourselves and our organizations in a business climate that offers the perfect conditions for psychopaths to thrive?

In Snakes in Suits, Hare, an expert on the scientific study of psychopathy, and Babiak, an industrial and organizational psychologist and a leading authority on the corporate psychopath, examine the role of psychopaths in modern corporations and provide the tools employers can use to avoid and deal with them. Together, they have developed the B-Scan 360, a research tool designed specifically for business professionals.

Dr. Babiak and Dr. Hare reveal the secret lives of psychopaths, explain the ways in which they manipulate and deceive, and help you to see through their games. The rapid pace of today's corporate environment provides the perfect breeding ground for these "snakes in suits" and this newly revised and updated classic gives you the insight, information, and power to protect yourself and your company before it's too late.

©2006 Paul Babiak, PhD, and Robert D. Hare, CM, PhD (P)2019 Tantor

Wish I Read This Sooner!

A book I am going to recommend to a lot of people. It really hit home for me. If only I'd read it sooner, I may have avoided so much grief!

A must read for everyone.

Excellent depiction.
I felt like they were telling my story.
Get educated on the subject because chances are you will tangle with a psycopath in your life.

great book

very interesting perspective on corporate culture. really enjoyed the performance. Would definitely recommend this audiobook

How Psychopaths Operate

An approachable and dare I say fun book on how psychopaths operate in corporations. Can’t recommend this one enough to anyone worried about these types.

Valuable Insight into Corporate Pyschopaths

This book provides an incredibly detailed analysis and breakdown of how psychopaths operate, what signs to look for, and how to protect yourself. If you've been victimized by a psychopath, it also incorporates resources for recovering from the trauma. Absolutely fantastic and helpful material.

The Book flip flops from great to unbearable

It’s hard not question the authors expertise with the cultural and generational ignorances in this book. I was going to give this a two until the last chapter, (spoiler alert) specifically the success of the psychopath despite credible intervention. I’ve practice the advice in this book, including attorney guidance. Ultimately my state bar, corrupt unions, and corrupt legislators have created a work environment that enables psychopaths. The laws in my state don’t permit any type of civil intervention for the acts of psychopathic, which include defamation, abuse, and unsafe working standards. The unions state they have worked hard to create better work environments but it’s generally what they see as better not necessarily what is best for employee. The state bar does a horrible job supervising attorneys so attorneys are overpriced, careless/reckless/lazy/ or narcissistic/psychopaths themselves. Ultimately being an independent contractor is the best solution but the state legislature and governor blocked that also. You basically pay high taxes in my state to be abused at work or capitulate to unions that charge you and protect you from abuse.

The best advice was to gain awareness about psychopaths and improve management skills. It’s also best to start in your own business and network with likeminded entrepreneurs. Despite what this book says, I’ve rarely run into psychopathic small business owners. The biggest problem of small business ownership are the psychopaths who syphon the small business owners. The entitled cyber terrorist, the illegal data exchanges, corrupt politicians, greedy unions and legislators all make small business much harder than it already is. The culture in my state has become such where the psychopath is considered an evolved human or alpha. This is from the misunderstanding that the absence of emotion and/or use of logic is similar to the psychopath state of mind. Passive aggressive personality choices dominate the cultural belief system here again equating it to being evolved and of a specific political party affiliation.

Staying informed is the only thing one can do in this era. Forge bonds with team oriented and community minded people. If your an introvert, always be prepared for a disaster, where at all possible, so you have the freedom to not be taking advantage of.

Who's a psychopath?

If you ever wondered if you lived/grew up/dated/married a psychopath, this will definitely help answer.

An Excellent Book!

This book was very much in depth, and brought many aspects of psychopaths in the workplace to light. I found the book extremely helpful and thorough. It is well written, and really addressed the subject. The advice at the end was solid too. I highly recommend this book--the narration was excellent.

More like text book

Although the topic is fascinating, it gave useful insight on recognizing and dealing with Psychopathy.
Bad news: it was slow and a bit too technical.

Boring

Less psychology and insightful than I expected and more on how to run an HR department.