After an articulation of primary notions in evolutionary theory and the subfield of evolutionary psychology, these multi. Discovering order in a chaotic world is a modern classicit has been adopted as required reading by businesses, nonprofits, government agencies, schools at all. Review forum toward an integrated theory of leadership. The evolutionary science of leadership by mark van vugt, anjana ahuja. Mark van vugt and anjana ahuja in naturally selected. Fusing psychology, business, evolutionary biology, and current affairs, naturally selected examines the evolution of leadership over several million years, from birds and bees to apes and humans, and presents a compelling new hypothesis. And, having a masters degree in leadership communication, ive read many books on the topic. One hallmark of the anthropocene is a rapid change in the ways our bipedal species affects the wild cohabitants on earth. Evolutionary mismatch occurs when the environment that organisms are adapted to, via a slow process of biological evolution, changes so quickly and intensely that it. We articulate issues related to multiple levels of analysis in theory building and theory testing and explore them from evolutionary theory et and organization science and leadership osl perspectives.
An evolutionarypsychology approach suggests that facial cues serve as inputs into an adaptive, contextsensitive followership psychology. Groundbreaking and timely, naturally selected unravels the mystery of leadershipwhy some lead, why some follow, and why it matters to every one of us. How did we evolve from smallscale societies of foragers and huntergathers into largescale industrial societies, in an evolutionary blip of 10,000 years. Evolutionary origins of leadership and followership. An emerging academic discipline, coauthored with michael sontag and paul jenkins choice magazine october 2011, pp. I summarize the main arguments of this work, which draws on evolutionary psychology and charles darwins theory of natural.
The evolutionary science of leadership malcom gladwell polled fortunes top 500 companies for his 2005 book blink, and found the average height of male ceos was just under 6 ft, but the average american male is 5 ft 9 inches. Natural selection and developmental constraints in the. An evolutionary psychology approach suggests that facial cues serve as inputs into an adaptive, contextsensitive followership psychology. Multilevel issues in evolutionary theory, organization. Leadership is one of social sciences most examined phenomena. The source of synergy foundation shares the work of the members in the circle. Introduction the term leadership is a relatively recent addition to the english language. Mark van vugt and anjana ahuja, naturally selected. A running theme in naturally selected is that our leadership preferences are an example of a mismatch. Aug 29, 2014 naturally selected is the best book ive read on leadership. Mark van vugt is the lead author of a popular science book on leadership, naturally selected, with british science journalist anjana ahuja which has been translated in over ten languages.
Based on the study of existing leadership trends and primary data analysis, this paper explores specific leadership qualities and styles that would be useful for steering organizations rapidly towards growth and enabling motivation and satisfaction to their. Multilevel issues are critical in the physical, social, and behavioral sciences. Reference to leadership is apparent throughout classical western and eastern writings. I summarize the main arguments of this work, which draws on evolutionary. Textbooks available from the bookstore naturally selected. Request pdf on mar 1, 2012, robert b affe and others published naturally selected. It has been in use only for about two hundred years, although the term leader, from which it was derived, appeared as early as a. Pdf the evolutionary bases for sustainable behavior. Since the publication of burnss 1978 seminal work on transforming. That is, leadership suitability may be contingent upon the match between facial cues indicating, e. In ultrasociety, historian peter turchin advances a scientific approach to history to identify the causal mechanisms that enabled largescale society a strand of research turchin calls cliodynamics. The scrutiny afforded to leadership is not surprising, given that it is a universal activ ity evident in humankind and in animal species bass, 2008.
Evolutionary leadership theory, journal of leadership studies. The evolutionary science of leadership mark van vugt and. They propose that many modern environmental and social problems are caused or exacerbated by five adaptive tendencies rooted in evolutionary history. The key multilevel concepts and issues of focus are summarized in table 1. Ive always suspected that some of us are more genetically inclined to lead and some to follow but that when push comes to shove most humans have some capacity to step up and lead. This pattern could result from natural selection for specific allometries or from developmental constraints on patterns of differential growth. Naturally selected hopes to correct this omission by integrating findings from disparate fields in an interdisciplinary manner. Politics and the life sciences publishes on the intersection of political science and the life sciences, and embraces interdisciplinary approaches. Gaining some insight into the evolution of leadership will greatly improve your understanding of the complexity of human behaviours as well as demystifying, to a great extent, our deep rooted motivations. In naturally selected, psychology professor mark van vugt and science writer anjana ahuja note that despite the trillions of words written on. Taking the science of leadership and followership seriously.
The authors examine the evolutionary bases of destructive and ecologically damaging human behavior. In animals, scaling relationships between appendages and body size exhibit high interspecific variation but low intraspecific variation. Relationships between leadership and followership owen 2009. For each of these prominent multilevel ideas, as shown in the table, a direct alignment can be established between evolutionary theory and organization science and leadership perspectives. This gaping hole must be plugged if we are to truly understand the human instinct to lead and the accompanying instinct to follow.
The thesis, in brief, is that synergy a vaguely familiar term to many of us is actually one of the great governing principles of the natural world. Scott antarctic expeditions the romance of leadership we often attribute great importance to leadership. The evolutionary science of leadership by mark van vugt. Leadership is a human universal all cultures have leadership brown, 1991 good leadership saves lives and bad leadership kills people amundsen vs. A core argument is that these mismatches are implicated in leadership failure. One eyeopening study from 2002 simulated intensive fishing and reported a. Like baumiester1, they integrate findings from social science research and ethnography and leadership. The origins and evolution of leadership sciencedirect. Based on the study of existing leadership trends and primary data analysis, this paper explores specific leadership qualities and styles that would be useful for steering organizations rapidly towards growth and enabling motivation and satisfaction to their employees. Aug 01, 2010 groundbreaking and timely, naturally selected unravels the mystery of leadershipwhy some lead, why some follow, and why it matters to every one of us.
Toward an integrated theory of leadership mark van vugt and anjana ahuja, naturally selected. Evolutionary psychologist mark van vugt and science journalist anjana ahuja upend the accepted wisdom about leadership and, following in the tradition of jim collins good to great and noel tichys. Social dilemmas understanding human cooperation paul van lange, daniel p. The guiding principle of van vugt and ahujas evolutionary leadership theory is that leadership and followership arose in humans and other species in response to survival and reproductive. By outlining an evolutionary theory of war and clarifying key misunderstandings regarding this approach, international relations scholars are better positioned to understand, engage, and contribute to emerging scholarship on human warfare across the social and evolutionary sciences. Evolutionary leadership theory wiley online library. Multilevel issues in evolutionary theory, organization science, and leadership. As evolutionary theory predicts and the evidence bears out, traits in males such as dominance, competitiveness, and risk taking all appear to have been selected for over the course of our evolution. He is also coauthor of a book on evolutionary mismatch and the implications of mismatch for human society with novelist ronald giphart.
A number of corporate organizations in india have been successful mainly due to their unique leadership style. Here, we draw upon key insights from the animal and human literature to lay the foundation for a new science of leadership inspired by an evolutionary perspective. The evolutionary science of leadership by mark van vugt, anjana ahuja pp. In naturally selected, psychology professor mark van vugt and science writer anjana ahuja note that despite the trillions of words written on leadership, few have addressed the why of leadership. We performed artificial selection on the allometry between forewing area and body size in a butterfly to test for. Jul 26, 2018 he has authored and coauthored various books including naturally selected. Abstract how can evolved human nature be leveraged to help eliminate or alleviate environmental problems.
Anjana ahuja a psychologist and a scientist examine the history of leadership since the dawn of man, discussing how and why it has evolved over thousands of years and arguing that what people look for in. Naturally selected is the best book ive read on leadership. Even though the science of leadership is relatively recent, our quest to understand humans probably dates as far back as the beginning of mankind. Darwins theory of evolution through natural selection 1871 makes clear that human. Identifying the origins of human leadership and followership, as well as which aspects are shared with other animals and which are unique, offers ways of understanding, predicting. The evolutionary leaders circle is a group of thought leaders from diverse disciplines who come together in synergy to help support a shift in consciousness. The evolutionary science of leadership by mark van vugt and anjana ahuja new york. Jan 18, 2011 fusing psychology, business, evolutionary biology, and current affairs, naturally selected examines the evolution of leadership over several million years, from birds and bees to apes and humans, and presents a compelling new hypothesis.
This should be obvious to anyone who can perceive the biological roles of men and women in reproduction and the social, developmental, and. The evolutionary science of leadership brings together the now commonly accepted evolution of social systems beginning with ancestral huntergatherer bands and ending with contemporary global organizations. We need to let go of our biases when it comes to gender and leadership so that we may anyone attain highlevel positions based on competency rather than letting gender sway our decisions. Already in 1990, bass 1990a found a proliferation of leadership books over 3, 300. Evolutionary mismatch occurs when the environment that organisms are adapted to, via a slow process of biological evolution, changes so quickly and. This process produces physiological and psychological adaptations. The evolutionary science of leadership by mark van vugt, anjana ahuja naturally selected. Buad861 ethical leadership development fall 2012 dr. It has been a wellspring of creativity in the evolution of the universe, and it has greatly influenced the overall trajectory of life on earth. He has authored and coauthored various books including naturally selected. Evolutionary mismatch occurs when the environment that organisms are adapted to, via a slow process of biological evolution, changes so quickly and intensely that it hinders these organisms to.
Toward an integrated theory of leadership mark van vugt. The evolutionary argument rests on the assumption that leadership and followership have coevolved in humans, and quite possibly in other social species, because taking on such roles under the right conditions wouldhavebeenadaptive. They suggest that leadership has a long evolutionary history and that the same mechanisms underpinning leadership in humans can be found in other social. We performed artificial selection on the allometry between forewing area and body. As expected, leadership correlates with initiative taking, trait measures of intelligence, specific task competencies, and several indicators of generosity. The evolution of leadership theory although the practice of leadership has changed considerably over time, the need for leaders and leadership has not bass, 1990a. The evolutionary science of leadership present evidence of leadership in nonhuman animals, from ants and bees to baboons and chimpanzees. The evolutionary science of leadership mark van vugt and anjana ahuja, naturally selected. Evolutionary psychologist mark van vugt and science journalist anjana ahuja upend the accepted wisdom about leadership and, following in the tradition of jim collins good to great and noel tichys the leadership engine. Evolutionary leadership theory, journal of leadership. Chapter 4 leadership theories and models leader, from which. Evolutionary leadership theory kenney 2012 journal of. Mark van vugt has received research grants from national and international funding agencies including the european union, the british academy, nwo, from government and industry.