I often say 'leadership is innate' or 'leadership traits are genetic'. But what does it really mean for a trait to be genetic?
It clearly doesn't mean you're a leader from the moment you're born. Nobody takes orders from a baby. Leadership takes time to develop. So 'leadership is genetic' is shorthand for saying 'the development of leadership traits over time is genetic'.
Yet not everyone is a leader. Some people crave power, attention (status), and resources. But others simply want to be followers. So 'leadership is genetic' is also a shorthand way to say 'some people have the natural motivation to lead' and others have an interest in following, due to genetic differences. Social skills are also genetic and vary across the population.
Richard Arvey and Stephen Colarelli posted a nice paper about the biology of leadership that I'll refer to next.
Leaders (monkeys and college fraternity presidents) have higher levels of the chemical serotonin in their brains than do followers. So 'leadership is genetic' also means that our genes direct the manufacture of certain chemicals in the brain that correlate with leadership. The more of a leader you are, the more serotonin is manufactured in your brain. Having high levels of serotonin is correlated with 'social ease' and 'calmer behavior in problem solving situations' and conflict management. Brain chemicals can have a profound effect on behavior, because the brain is designed (by the genes) to be affected by these chemicals.
OK, so serotonin is correlated with leadership. But does it actually cause leadership? In some cases, yes. Again, quoting from the paper: Scientists conducted 'experiments where serotonin levels were altered with Prozac ... In leaderless all-male groups, monkeys that received Prozac emerged as alpha males'.
Since serotonin is a simple molecule, there's obviously no inherent 'leadership' in the chemical itself. So artificially raising serotonin levels must trigger a capability that already lies dormant in the brain. Any gene variant that regulates production of more serotonin is essentially a leadership 'master' gene that exploits this pre-existing (genetically constructed) brain circuitry.
Let's step back for a moment. Clearly the brain has the ability to recognize when you've attained a leadership role, otherwise the physical production of serotonin wouldn't have an 'on switch'. In other words 'leadership is genetic' is another way of saying that genes develop a region of the brain that recognizes (via your senses) that you're dominant, and upon that recognition, manufactures and distributes serotonin in your bloodstream. A different set of genes constructs another brain region that detects serotonin in the bloodstream, and triggers the interest, motivation and calm demeanor.
This brings us back to the question, can anyone become a leader? Do your unique gene variants cause you to become a leader? Or do you become a leader first (by having the right mix of qualities) and then innately realize your status, which causes physiological changes (like elevated serotonin levels).
My guess is that correlation and causation are both at work. Some people are innately interested in acquiring status, navigating power hierarchies, and grabbing resources. Such interests emanate from the more primitive amygdala region of the brain when you are younger, and the specific skills you acquire from practicing those interests (in these modern times) are stored in the cortex, which is a more general purpose learning engine. Again, 'leadership is genetic' because your innate interests - which derive from genetically constructed regions of the brain - motivate you to practice and acquire the culturally proscribed skills and expertise to wield leadership. Leaders are thus selected (not trained) for their innate traits and interests, even as their skills have a modern flavor.
But 'born leaders' don't always succeed, and once they recognize their loss of stature, their serotonin level decreases by the natural process. On the other hand, some people are appointed (or anointed) as leaders through little effort of their own (like hereditary kings and emperors), and once their innate brain circuitry detects this status increase, their serotonin level goes up.
A challenge for all you computational neuroscientists out there! How are interests and motivations manifest in the brain? How can our genes guide the development of brain circuitry that detects we are in a leadership position, and, upon detection, reduces (or encapsulates) that experience into a simple signal - the serotonin molecule?
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