This document discusses the nature vs. nurture debate around leadership abilities. It presents research that suggests there may be a genetic component to transformational leadership traits and that genetics can play a role in predicting those who attain leadership positions. However, it also argues that leadership should still be viewed as a skill that can be developed. It then profiles several contemporary leaders and notes possible genetic connections or family histories related to their leadership paths. This raises questions about whether such connections are merely coincidental or indicate genetics may influence leadership tendencies. More research is needed to fully understand the interplay between nature and nurture in leadership development.

1. Fact or Fiction?
Genetic Leadership

2. “The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are
born – that there is a genetic factor to leadership.
This myth asserts that people simply either have certain
charismatic qualities or not.
That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are
made rather than born.”
Warren Bennis

3. Leaders are made, they are not born.

4. Research Question
• Can the leadership gene
become a valid hypothesis
through anecdoctal evidence
and current scientific research?
• Is there a genetic leadership
gene?
• Is there a connection between
one’s DNA and leadership?

6. Transformational Leadership Linked to
Genetics
• Chaturvedi and Christoforou (2011) conducted a study that
linked transformational leadership to genetics.
• The authors posited there was an overlap of genetic factors
linking transformational leadership.

7. Genes do influence the differences in people
• A study conducted at Case Western Reserve University
revealed:
• that genes do influence the differences among people
• the genetic makeup of a person may influence
• what jobs are selected
• a work ethic or drive.
40% of the variation among incomes could
be attributable to genetics.

8. “A specific DNA sequence has been significantly
associated with the likelihood that an individual
is linked with a leadership position, according to
a study, published in Leadership Quarterly.”
(University College London (UCL), 2013)

9. Still a skill, but perhaps a genetic indicator
• "Although leadership should still be
thought of predominantly as a skill
to be developed, genetics - in
particular the rs4950 genotype -
can also play a significant role in
predicting who is more likely to
occupy leadership roles."

11. Entrepreneurial Leader
“Entrepreneurial leadership is
organizing a group of people to achieve
a common goal using proactive
entrepreneurial behavior by optimising
risk, innovating to take advantage of
opportunities, taking personal
responsibility and managing change
within a dynamic environment for the
benefit of the organisation.”
(Roebuck, 2011)

12. Richard Branson
Follow your passions
Do some good.
Believe in your business
Have fun
Don't give up.
Listen more and talk less.
Make room for personal time through delegation.
Go out and meet people.
Communicate among all levels of your company.
Be happy.

14. Contemporary Entreprenurial Leaders

16. Charismatic Leadership
Inspirational Motivation is what charismatic
leaders are noted for:
their ability to inspire and motivate followers to
perform at high levels, and to be committed to
the organization or the cause.

17. John C. Maxwell, in "Charismatic Leadership," leaders are
characterized with four traits:
Believe in
employees'
potential
Embrace
life's
opportunitie
s
Share their
own talents
Provide
motivation

18. Contemporary Charismatic Leaders

19. Charismatic Leader
Efiong’s Father
Chief, JP. Ibekwe

21. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
• Transformational Leader
“Leaders and followers make each
other advance to a higher level of
morality and motivation."

22. Grinnell was also a 'conductor'
on the Underground Railroad
and was associated with John
Brown, the Abolionist.
He provided shelter to John
Brown in 1859 after Brown's
anti-slavery raids in Kansas
and Missouri.
Josiah Bushnell Grinell

23. Hannah Knight
LibbyHannah Knight Libby
joined the Mormon
church and moved
with her family from
Maine to Illinois.
Following the Mormon
persecution, she left
her husband and set
on a way to Utah.
She was one of the
early Utah pioneers.

24. Finding Your Roots – Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

25. Merely a coincidence?
• Richard Branson –
• One of his great grandfathers was
an entrepreneur
• Traded in India for spices
Richard’s paternal great-great-grandmother,
Eliza Cornelia Wilson Wellington Reddy,
was born in India, to a man named Luke Reddy,
and a mother who was not listed on Eliza’s birth certificate.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show
Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2016)
stated that Richard’s genetic ancestry is:
*95.9% European
*3.9% South Asian
Thus, it was speculated on the show that Eliza’s
mother was Indian, leading to Richard’s DNA result,
and him having 1/32 Indian ancestry.
Sir Richard Branson had no idea that he had
an entrepreneur in his family tree.

26. Merely a coincidence?
• Russell Wilson –
• His grandfather, a former president of Norfolk State
University, was a two sport star at Kentucky State, and his
father, Harrison, was a standout football and baseball player
for Dartmouth who was drafted into the NFL, but chose to
pursue a law career.

27. Nature versus Nurture
• Robert Downey, Jr.
• “At the end of the episode
Professor Gates discussed the
question of "nature versus
nurture" with his guests and
asked Robert Downey, Jr. if he
feels that his ancestral past has
shaped who he is today.”
"I don't see how it couldn't...it's informing
you whether you're conscious of it or not,
so probably better to be conscious."

28. Merely a coincidence?
• Josiah Bushnell Grinnell –
• In Iowa, Grinnell was elected to the Iowa Senate, where he
served from 1856 to 1860. At the same time, he studied law,
was admitted to the bar in 1858, and set up his legal practice
in Grinnell. He was a delegate to the
1860 Republican National Convention that nominated
Abraham Lincoln for President.
• Grinnell was also a 'conductor' on the
Underground Railroad and was associated with John Brown.
He provided shelter to John Brown in 1859 after Brown's
anti-slavery raids in Kansas and Missouri.
Dr Renee Hill’s is working on her second
doctorate.
Josiah is her Great Grandfather.

29. Merely a coincidence?
• Hannah Knight Libby –
• Her father was in a Captain in the Revolutionary War.
• Her mother was the daughter of a church deacon.
• She moved her family, along with Joseph Smith and others
to Utah.
Dr Andree Swanson is a leader and serves
as the Program Chair of the Bachelors of
Arts in Business Leadership.
Hannah Knight Libby is her Great Great
Grandmother.

30. Merely a coincidence?
Chief, JP. UDO IBEKWE
Dr. Efiong Akwaowo is a core faculty
member in the Forbes School of Business
and Technology at Ashford University.
The Late Chief Udo Ibekwe, was my father-
in-law, a man of a great integrity, whom I
loved dearly.
• Chief Udo Ibekwe lost his parents at his tender age. This challenge to
his early life set him on a leadership course as he had to fend for
himself and his five siblings. The village quickly looked up to him as
the only enlightened person with a reputable character. As an
elementary school teacher, he was unanimously elected as the
leader of the union due to his charismatic qualities and later, at the
state level. His socio-political leadership visions led to the creation of
pressure groups such as NTO AFE ANNANG, which brought the
emancipation of his ANNANG tribe to political relevance and
recognition. His leadership strides even in his religious activities in
the Methodist faith, earned him the honor of ORDER OF WESTLEY
(OOW). Even after his retirement, he was still looked up to by his
peers to champion the struggle for their welfare; he was elected to
the state chairman of pensioners union and as a trustee at the
national level, all due to his charismatic leadership qualities.

31. Future Research