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A Brief History of Leadership

Explore the history of leadership and how it influences modern behaviors. Learn about ancestral tales, concestual links, and leadership among primates and early humans. Discover the importance of studying evolutionary leadership for personal growth and overcoming primal instincts.

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A Brief History of Leadership

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  1. A Brief History of Leadership

  2. A new idea from ancient times • Today’s behaviours (what we do) are influenced by our biological history (what we were). Leadership development is possible and necessary to help us overcome our more primitive instincts.

  3. Why study the history of leadership? • To explore leadership concepts (‘map-reading’) • To test leadership concepts (‘map-testing’) • To develop richer personal leadership maps (‘map-making’)

  4. Health Warning: Anthropomorphism • Anthropomorphism: ‘seeing’ human behaviour patterns in other animals; inanimate objects; and symbolic entities (Peter Rabbit; ‘Hal’; The Four Horsemen of the apocalypse …)

  5. Our ancestors’ tale • Our ancestors’ tale begins with the earliest common ancestor (‘concestor’) of all living creatures. • If we search, we can find the messages from over a billion years of evolution …

  6. Concestual links* (1) * Concestor: A shared common ancestor (‘Best estimates’ of dates)

  7. Concestual links (2)

  8. Concestor links (3)

  9. Leadership: An evolutionary view • The further back we go into history, the broader the definition of leadership needed • The closer to our personal leadership experiences, the greater the need for stipulating context

  10. It depends what you mean by leadership .. • Influence processes • Mobilizing resources to arouse, engage, satisfy the motives of followers • Making sense [of what people are doing] …articulating purpose and values

  11. Insects, instincts and information • Insects behave primarily through ‘hard-wired’ instincts • Scientists have developed models based on information theory • Insects with valuable resource information can ‘lead’ followers to food, to safety, into battle …

  12. Do insects show creative leadership?

  13. Do birds show leadership?

  14. What leadership behaviours can be seen in other animal families?

  15. Leadership among the primates

  16. Leadership in our closest ancestors • Early hominoids • Hunter gatherers • Agrarian tribalism • Industrial society • Our informational age

  17. Atavistic Prototypes Animal Leaders (non human) Animal Leaders (human) Heroic Leaders Territorial Leaders New Leadership School Pack Leadership Trait Theories Collective Leadership Style and Contingency Theories Thought leaders

  18. Do we inherit behaviours fromconcestors? * (* Selected examples)

  19. Toward a new idea of evolutionary leadership • Leadership today has preserved residual ancient forms sustained mimetically (through leadership myths) • Social and personal development permits transcendence of more primitive instincts (through consciousness and learning) • We become and create ‘the leaders we deserve’

  20. So what? • ‘What’s the use of a baby?’ (Faraday) • Helps explain bullying leaders (Mandrills); Charismatic influence (Peacocks); Anthropomorphism (Termites); Dysfunctional behaviours (Horses); Manipulative behaviours (Chimpanzees)

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