The Narcissistic Charm of “Instagrammable” CEOs
Barbara Suigo is a charisma expert, HR consultant, and author. Specializing in the development of soft skills, she has published the "Charisma Trilogy" and offers personalized training and coaching programs for leaders and professionals.
There’s a new form of power that doesn’t shout, impose, or dirty its hands. It’s a power that aims, first and foremost, to seduce. It has the smiling face of the motivational CEO, the warm voice of corporate podcasts, and the perfect LinkedIn posts. It speaks of vision, authenticity, and impact. Yet, if you look closer, under the pretense of communication, it stages itself, performing.
In many companies today, the leader’s figure has transformed into a product to showcase, a brand to nurture, an identity to protect at all costs. And when charisma ceases to be a relational quality and becomes a mechanism of consent through fascination—which has nothing to do with true charisma—the risk remains constant: the leader feeds on the organization, not vice versa.
CEO-centrism: An unsettling model
In many parts of the world, the CEO’s face is becoming increasingly present in corporate videos, marketing materials, motivational posts, and publications bearing their name. Visibility itself isn’t the issue. The concern arises when the corporate narrative starts to center around a single individual, while shared values, teams, and the collective mission gradually fade into the background.
The CEO-centric leader is the sole protagonist. Everything goes through their voice, style, and image. The company itself stops communicating; the CEO communicates.
Signs of self-referential charisma
The question is: Is self-centeredness truly charisma?
In many cases, it’s merely a product of egomania, now widespread in every corner of the professional world.
According to psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, narcissism is steadily increasing, while emotional intelligence tends to decline. In an interview published by McKinsey & Company, he states:
“Certain elements of EQ are declining as narcissism goes up, and there’s a lot of evidence for this” (McKinsey, 2023).
This indicates that, in modern organizations, the capacity to listen, create authentic relationships, and manage emotions (both one’s own and others’) is slowly replaced by self-satisfaction, a craving for approval, and inflated self-assessment.
The phenomenon is so pronounced that it has a name: the “era of digital narcissism.” In a Harvard Business Review article (April 2023), Chamorro-Premuzic reports that clinical narcissism scores increased by 30% in the United States between the late ’70s and early 2000s. In this hyperconnected and self-referential context, narcissism is no longer just an individual risk but a systemic cultural trend.
The “Instagrammable” CEO: When passion becomes narrative
Chamorro-Premuzic also states that the growing number of CEOs behaving like social media stars and public event celebrities is not an anomaly, but a systemic effect. In Harvard Business Review, he explains:
“We tend to equate confidence with competence, even when it’s false” (HBR, 2016).
The problem? This type of visibility rarely aligns with genuine leadership capability: it often leads to impulsive decisions, poor empathy, and performative leadership.
On LinkedIn, he summarizes it with striking clarity:
“It is the obsessive focus on the self that links the narcissistic personality with charisma.” (Chamorro-Premuzic, 2023).
When charisma becomes an identity tool rather than an authentic relationship, it transforms into a perfect mask for narcissism, designed to seduce the public and strengthen a communicative power that doesn’t always correspond to real competence.
One sophisticated manifestation of this phenomenon is the “Instagrammable” CEO: leaders who don’t merely share a corporate vision but continuously narrate their personal passions. Extreme sports, dawn running, meditation, philosophical reading, cooking, hiking, paddleboarding, writing—everything is communicated aesthetically, intensely, and with apparent spontaneity.
The implicit message?
“Look at who I am. Look at how I live. Look at how authentic I am.”
Yet the reality is that these passions become carefully curated props in communication, transforming personal activities into tools for subtle influence. The underlying message might become:
“I am the brand. I am the corporate culture. I am the source of vision.”
And the organization? It disappears.
Silent. Functional only to the construction of the persona.
Human resources, where are you?
One reason narcissistic CEOs continue to be hired, according to Chamorro-Premuzic, is bias in hiring processes, often overseen by HR and boards that mistake outward confidence for genuine competence. In particular, he criticizes evaluating candidates based on confidence, eloquence, and elegance rather than objective performance data or emotional intelligence (HBR, 2016; McKinsey, 2023).
Similarly, expert Josh Bersin highlights the need for HR to shift from CV-based approaches to competence-based hiring.
The risk? Promoting reassuring but ultimately empty profiles rather than genuinely capable candidates.
It is crucial to reconsider HR practices: introduce psychometric screenings, evaluations of relational skills, and objective assessments.
Only then can we limit the seductive power of performative narcissism and select leaders for what they build rather than how they appear.
Leadership as service, not as stage
Being a leader doesn’t mean occupying center stage; it means making room for others. It involves creating a system that functions even without the most visible face.
Healthy leadership does not require exhibition. It does not fear dissent. It does not create singular narratives.
It builds environments where individuals can express themselves without having to follow a script.
In an age when every manager also seems to be a brand, let’s remember: a company is not a stage. It is a working community.
Conclusion
We live in an age where the line between exhibitionism and leadership grows increasingly thin.
That line today is crossed almost unnoticed.
Yet, an organization cannot rely on a single individual’s centrality.
It cannot survive on a narrative serving merely visibility and control.
It cannot sacrifice plurality at the altar of aesthetic coherence.
Charisma is a powerful tool. But if not tempered by ethics, listening, and responsibility, it becomes a weapon. And sooner or later, it strikes even those wielding it.
This article anticipates themes from my upcoming book, “Charismatic Psychopaths,” exploring the darker side of contemporary leadership.
Have you ever worked with a boss who seemed inspiring but ultimately drained you? A leader who sought approval over results?
Share your story. Your experience can help others see beyond appearances more clearly.
Read more from Barbara Suigo
Barbara Suigo, Senior HR Consultant, Author, Charisma Expert
Born in Italy and naturalized as a French citizen, Barbara Suigo is an HR consultant, author, coach, and trainer specializing in the Art of Charisma. With solid experience in corporate communication and extensive training in NLP, persuasion, and storytelling techniques, she supports professionals and companies by offering personalized coaching, training programs, and in-depth content.
Barbara is the author of the Charisma Trilogy, a work that deeply explores how to develop and harness personal influence and leadership presence. She has also published other books focused on personal and professional growth, solidifying her role as a leader in the field of soft skills development.
