The Ripple Effect of Narcissistic Leadership
After watching the Netflix documentary on the OceanGate submersible disaster, I reached a clear and unsettling conclusion: narcissistic leadership can quietly destroy everything around it—people, systems, and ultimately lives . This is not a psychological diagnosis of Stockton Rush, but my personal evaluation based on repeated patterns of behavior shown throughout the documentary. What struck me most was that the failure was not caused by a single technical flaw or one poor decision. It was the result of a pattern of behavior that created ripples across the entire organization, weakening every layer of safety. From early on, Stockton Rush showed an inability to accept expert disagreement. When Mr. David Lochridge , the Director of Marine Operations, requested that independent third-party inspectors be involved to verify the hull’s design and ensure safety, Rush denied the request . Rush then asked David to carry out the safety checks himself. After David gave his feedback, Rush fired...