The findings suggest that employees with dark traits may be more willing to take on tasks others avoid, so managers see them as useful for work that could harm the manager’s own reputation, such as enacting unpopular policies, disciplining staff or conducting layoffs.

“Throughout history and in organizations, there are people who have to do dirty, bad things that a lot of people don’t want to do, and perhaps dark personalities are better able to do those than those who lack these traits,” he said. “A leader recognizes a place for people who seem to violate conventional norms of what it is to be a good person.”

This explains the big management consulting firms like McKinsey to a T.