Selected: What Evolutionary Psychology Tells Us About Leadership

By Mark van Vugt and Anjana Ahuja

'Fascinating and eminently readable' 

— Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive, Royal Society of Arts

 'Intriguing and subtle' 

— Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist

 'The book’s practical suggestions are worth taking seriously' 

— Nature

We are all leaders or followers – or both – and we can recognize leadership in almost every area of life. But what makes a good, bad or even outstanding leader?

Fusing psychology, business, history and current affairs, Selected examines how and why leadership has evolved over tens of thousands of years, and presents a compelling new hypothesis: that the slow pace of evolution means there is a mismatch between modern leadership and the kind of leadership that our Stone Age brains are still wired for.

Combining academic authority with journalistic style, and full of fascinating examples spanning politics, commerce, sport and culture, Selected explains why taller political candidates usually win, why middle managers are so disliked and why we don’t enjoy working for huge companies.

This extraordinary book explores how the psychology of leadership affects us all – and what we can do about it.