The Origins of Leadership

A discussion on the new network site Learn To Lead at http://learntolead.ning.com (I invite you to join the network) prompted me to think about the origins of leadership. I hadn’t thought about this before. As I did begin to ponder the question of how leadership began, it occurred to me that perhaps it emerged from our animal origins. Animal societies are often headed by an alpha individual. This reminded me of something in an audio course published by the company The Modern Scholar. The course is Ideas That Shaped Mankind by Felip Fernandez-Armesto. I highly recommend the course. Fernandez-Armesto speaks of the evolution of leadership. He mentions that in non-human primate groups the alpha male imposed leadership through intimidation and violence. This is leading by physical power. With the emergence of priest-like figures, leading through the power of thought and imagination came on the scene. Here we have the appearance of charisma. A knowledge class arises. During the Ice Age, hereditary leadership develops.

This ties in with a chapter on the charismatic leader in a book by Garry Wills titled Certain Trumpets. In charismatic leadership authority derives from one person because of that individual's privileged position with God. The successors to this person derive their authority from their relationship with the charismatic individual. This is traditional leadership. When tradition weakens, authority is established by agreement and becomes legalistic leadership.

Why think about the origins of leadership? Donella H. Meadows in a new book entitled Thinking in Systems mentions that to understand a system we need to learn its history. I have written before of my view of leadership as a system. Knowing how leadership has evolved can aid our understanding of our current perceptions on leadership. Being aware of leadership’s past and present can stimulate our thinking about how to shape the future of leadership.