Abstract
In an ever-changing business environment, leadership has become a popular research topic. A good leadership is defined differently in different industries, businesses, or even countries due to perceptions of managerial capabilities or specific hierarchical structures. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the financial services in Australia are usually managed by their owners, and very rarely would they hire trained professional managers to lead these businesses. Leaders in SMEs obtain their leadership skills through experience rather than formal training (Loewenthal, 2021). Therefore, leadership in SMEs is an attractive topic as it highlights skills that are developed through practice, which can be difficult to instantly categorise as good or disruptive. Narcissism is traditionally considered as a detrimental facet of leadership due to its negative connotation. However, the history of the business world has seen successful leaders who were displaying narcissistic traits while at the same time being very successful (Rosenthal & Pittinsky, 2006). Therefore narcissism, could potentially contribute to an effective leadership in business. This research was set to explore the presence of narcissism in leadership of SMEs in the financial services industry in Australia. The study was exploring ten narcissistic traits, previously identified in literature, in attempt to discover if these traits are contributing or deterring from good leadership. These traits were arrogance, self-absorption, dominance, lack of empathy, sense of entitlement, egocentrism, sense of self-promotion, exploitativeness, self-confidence and risk taking. The selected industry - financial services and specifically SMEs, provided an ample opportunity to test if narcissistic traits have a positive or negative impact when leading professionals in this field. The impact of these traits was analysed against two specific leadership styles: transactional (as a traditional approach in managing people) and Narcissistic traits and good leadership in Australian financial services SMEs x | P a g e transformational (a contemporary approach often praised to be useful during the disruptive times). The research adopted the qualitative approach, conducting 15 in-depth interviews with professionals from the Australian financial services working in SMEs which were being led by one or more leaders that displayed narcissistic traits. To avoid bias only team members, not leaders, were included in the sample. The sample was predefined based on the length of work experience (minimum 1 year) which indicated if potential participants had any teamwork or project-based experience, hence being led by a leader. Age under 40 years, which indicated seniority of their position, avoiding senior roles which are potentially leadership roles. Finally, if they were led or worked with a leader that displayed narcistic traits - to establish this the two most prominent traits were used during the screening process (arrogance and self-confidence). The in-depth interviews, completed during the COVID-19 lockdowns in Australia, were conducted via an online conferencing platform due to health and safety measures put in place during that period (from early 2020 to early 2022). The researcher was using a semi structured discussion guide, specifically developed for this study, during the interviews. The interviews lasted between 40 to 80 minutes and were divided into two sections. The first section was exploring the past experiences regarding the ten narcissistic traits - which were not specifically mentioned. These were explored through a set of questions. The second section of the interview concentrated on discovering in-depth insights about how team members perceived the narcissistic traits (useful or detrimental), specifically in the context of transactional and transformational styles, how they affect business outcomes, or if they can contribute to good leadership