New Scientist - USA (2020-07-04)

30 | New Scientist | 4 July 2020

D

ONALD TRUMP in the US and Jacinda

Ardern in New Zealand. Vladimir

Putin in Russia and Sanna Marin in

Finland. It is hard to imagine more drastically

different political figures. Yet each of these

individuals has reached the highest office

in their country. Given the vast differences

in their personal qualities, behaviour and

rhetoric, can we ever understand what makes

for a successful leader? How is it that Trump,

Ardern, Putin and Marin can all become

leaders of their nations?

If you have had any exposure to business

leadership theories, you may see a pattern

here. Many identify two main ways that

leaders exert their influence over groups.

DA

NIE

L^ S

TO

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E

Features

Dominate or

influence?

Today’s leaders are very different from those

who led humanity for most of its existence.

Emma Young finds out why

These dichotomies go by names such as

democratic versus autocratic, participative

versus directive and personalised versus

positional. This sort of analysis may be

helpful in characterising leadership styles,

but it can only take us so far in understanding

why we have the leaders we do. Now, an

idea emerging from evolutionary biology

promises to do much more.

This approach connects the two distinct

leadership styles with deeper human drives

and motivations. Its proponents argue that

through this perspective, we can explain a

lot about the state of the world today, from

the US-China trade war to the success of

countries such as New Zealand, Germany

and Taiwan in responding to covid-19, and

from Boris Johnson’s victory in last year’s UK

general election to the under-representation

of women in boardrooms. Some believe this

model can even predict the outcome of the

forthcoming US presidential election.

Can they be right?

Evolutionary biologists call the two styles

of leadership “dominance” and “prestige”.

A prestige leader influences people through

their superior personal attributes, such as

knowledge, wisdom and vision. These leaders

may also be charismatic and use their skill at

rhetoric to win over followers: think of Jesus

or Confucius. Or, for a more contemporary

case, take the German chancellor Angela