Over the past several months, I’ve been doing a bunch of research on a a variety of topics, one of which is the presence of psychopaths in the workplace and their effect on teams and organizational culture. There will be other posts where I unpack some of that stuff, but one of the many things I found fascinating during the course of this research was the path psychopaths take to become CEOs.

Now before visions of Christian Bale’s blood-spattered face haunt you for the rest of the day, let’s refocus. Think of Mr. Burns there above. See? Now your brain is traveling down the path toward a happier place, or at least one that’s not quite as dark.

According to research, CEO is the position with the highest concentration/percentage of psychopaths of any profession, and the rate of psychopaths showing up in CEO roles is higher than the rate among the general population. Kind of makes you wonder how that’s possible, doesn’t it?