Have you ever worked with someone who seemed charming initially and then turned out to be a bully? Did they undermine you and leave you and others in the team second-guessing yourselves? You might have been working with someone displaying psychopathic traits. After his own experience working with someone like this, David Gillespie set out to understand what was going on and why people behave this way. David Gillespie is a former lawyer and the best-selling author of Sweet Poison, a book about how we are all poisoning ourselves with sugar. That was when we first encountered his work and the book is generally credited with starting the current wave of sugar awareness in Australia. David’s research into psychopathy means that his latest book, Toxic at Work is full of facts and advice we can all use to deal with the psychopaths in our lives. He also builds a case study in the book that will resonate with so many of us. We have talked about difficult people in previous episodes, and in the next two episodes, Juliet chats with David about the psychopaths (and not the knife-wielding sort!)we encounter at work. Toxic people have no empathy and suck our time, energy and confidence. When we work with them we are constantly having to find ways to work around them or minimise their impact on us. And that’s once we realise what they are doing! This episode is the first part of the interview where David talks about how we identify the psychopaths living and working amongst us and some of the strategies we can use to manage their impact on our work and lives. In the next episode, David will expand on how to ensure psychopaths cannot derail you or your team. We would love to hear about your experiences and insights from encountering and dealing with psychopaths in your workplace. You can share your experiences and ask questions at https://www.facebook.com/growyourinfluence/ 

You can find more information on David Gillespie, including more about his comprehensive research and other books on a range of topics, at https://davidgillespie.org/ and you can purchase his books at any good bookstore or on his website