Evolve

Leaders work hard to develop strong leadership capabilities in today’s modern organizations, for the benefit of their teams and for their own careers. But, sometimes conventional leadership theory fails to explain why our efforts fail to make an impact, and arguably are becoming less and less successful. Why would this be?

The answer lies in our evolutionary history. Leadership is integral to our success and evolution as a species, as larger better functioning groups out-survived fragmented groups that did not benefit from strong leadership. Leader-follower relationships are, therefore, deeply ingrained in our brains, our instincts and our behaviour. But, our modern world, with its technology, connectedness and complexity, has evolved much faster than our brains – and our leader-follower behaviour has not caught up.

Evolve charts the fascinating development of our evolutionary history to provide a profound understanding of human behaviour around leadership. It also establishes a framework for the modes of leadership that shape the world today. Through case studies and real-world examples, you will gain powerful insights into the nature of leadership now. More importantly, these insights inform the actions you can take in your own life to enable you to become a more aware, mindful, impactful, and successful leader.

Graeme Findlay is an Associate Fellow at the University of Oxford Saïd Business School on the faculty of their Executive Education programs. He consults to industry as an executive coach and change management advisor. Prior to specialising in leadership development, Graeme held executive management roles and was accountable for delivering operational transformations and performance turnarounds on world-scale mega-projects. His passion for high performance teams led to academic research at Oxford University and HEC Paris. Graeme holds a Masters degree in Consulting and Coaching for Change.