In a world where we all encounter different personalities, some individuals aim to manipulate and exploit. Thomas Erikson’s eye-opening book, Surrounded by Psychopaths: How to Protect Yourself from Being Manipulated and Exploited in Business (and in Life), dives deep into recognizing and defending yourself against these dangerous individuals. Whether you’re navigating the business world or your personal life, this book offers crucial insights on how to protect yourself.
Erikson introduces a framework where most people’s personalities can be categorized into four distinct colours, each representing unique traits.
Personality Colours and Traits:
- Red: Stressed performance seekers and alpha leaders.
- Blue: Analytical perfectionists who rely heavily on data.
- Green: Balanced, compliant, and team-oriented individuals.
- Yellow: Creative, sociable, and optimistic resourceful types.
Each person usually exhibits a combination of these colours, with one dominant. However, there’s one group of people who don’t fit into these categories: psychopaths. Their primary goal? To manipulate others for their own benefit.
Psychopaths have no loyalty, empathy, or remorse. Whether in the workplace or personal life, they exist solely to exert control over others. You’ll often find them in high-power positions like CEOs, lawyers, surgeons, or even police officers. Superficially, they can mimic any of the personality colors, making them difficult to identify. But their intentions always reveal their true nature.
How to Spot a Psychopath
Psychopaths differ from the other personality types because their actions are self-serving. They can come across as charming or intimidating, depending on what serves their purpose. They may even go to extreme lengths, as Erikson illustrates with a personal story where a stalker spread malicious lies about him, causing severe strain in his relationships. According to Erikson, the best approach when dealing with a psychopath is to not engage at all—run, don’t walk.
Key Differences:
- Red Personalities may seem task-driven and straightforward, but their actions aren’t personal—they simply want to get things done.
- Psychopaths, on the other hand, don’t care about anyone’s feelings. They’ll manipulate and lie, with zero concern for the consequences or others’ well-being. They’ll gaslight and exploit, taking pleasure in their ability to control.
To further understand personality types and how they function, check out my previous video discussing the four colours in-depth here.
How to Protect Yourself
Psychopaths can be hard to spot at first because they seamlessly adapt to different social dynamics. However, once you recognize their manipulative behaviour, it’s crucial to avoid getting caught in their web. Erikson stresses that you can’t change them—your best defence is to distance yourself.
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