What makes a good leader? A team of psychologists, mathematicians, anthropologists and biologists came together over the past two years to find an answer to this question – by looking at animals.

The researchers first had to define leadership. They determined that a leader is an individual that, through action, prompts others to follow a certain set of rules. So they influence other individuals within a society.

Researchers studied leadership in several mammalian and human societies. They looked at elephant herds, hyena clans, monkey troops and small-scale human societies.

Specifically, they studied hunter-gatherer societies, groups that "are fairly remote and don’t have as many interactions with the broader technology-based societies that many of us are experiencing," said Jennifer Smith, an assistant professor of biology at Mills College in California and a co-author of the group’s report, published last month in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution. "… We wanted to understand the origins of cooperation, to look back in time so we can look at how leadership roles may have evolved."

Across multiple species

Researchers reviewed evidence of leadership across multiple species and within four domains: movement, food acquisition, within-group conflict mediation and between-group interactions or fights.

Similarities emerged between human and animal societies in leadership and resource sharing, Smith said.

Lions, for example, are among the more equitable species, she said. "They tend to breed cooperatively. Individuals will help each other in rearing offspring. And when it comes to feeding, they also are more equitable in sharing. Even though they have particular leadership roles during hunting, the food is often shared in a broader way. We see similarities to that in human societies."

But researchers also found differences, when compared to other mammalian species.

"If you look at a chimpanzee or a hyena in the way they dictate power, a leader might be socially dominant and control all of the resources, whereas in human societies oftentimes it’s more equitable," she pointed out. "There are more sharing of the benefits that leaders might help to obtain."

Common trait

Experience was a common trait of most successful leaders.

"It’s not how charismatic you are or who your mom was, necessarily. Things like that are less important than the amount of experience individuals have on the ground," Smith reported, pointing to elephants as an example. "We noticed that older matriarchs in the societies – females that have been in these groups for many years, that are very long lived and have this knowledge – are the ones that are calling the shots."

The researchers did find some exceptions where rank was inherited.

Among spotted hyenas, individuals basically inherit ranks right below their mothers, Smith said. "In those societies, the distribution of resources seems to be less equitable."

Leadership lessons

After looking closely at these species, researchers said humans could learn a thing or two from the interactions of elephants and other mammals.

The naïve creatures "don’t necessarily know to negotiate or navigate through their worlds, but through the leadership of the more experienced individuals, they can [learn] new insights," Smith said. "They can benefit from the leadership and experience that these knowledgeable elephants and other kinds of animals have.

"What we found here is that, time and again, the most successful leaders are actually those that take all of the demands from the society into account," she added. "And the most equitable leaders that have experience are those that are providing the most benefits to their groups."

A leader knows the way, goes the way and shows the way, it is said. The validity of that idea, Smith and her fellow researchers say, is on display in many parts of the animal world. Successful, experienced leaders can pave the way for a successful society.

Perhaps that can help reinforce the importance of experience in a world that seems to be constantly looking for the next new thing.

一位優秀的領導者需要具備什麼特質呢？過去兩年間，一個由心理學家、數學家、人類學家(anthropologist)和生物學家共同組成的團隊透過觀察動物找到了這個問題的答案。

研究人員首先須定義領導力。他們確定領導者的定義是個體能透過行動來促使(prompt)別人遵循某一套規則，領導者因此能在社會中影響其他個體。研究人員研究了哺乳動物(mammalian)和人類社會的領導力。他們觀察了象群(herd)、土狼群(clan)，猴群(troop)和 小規模的人類社會。

具體來說，他們研究的是狩獵與採集型社會。這些群體多半「地處偏遠，也少與我們現在所處運用大量科技的社會有所互動」，加州米爾斯學院的生物學助理教授珍妮弗‧史密斯如此表示。她是本研究的共同作者(co-author)，上個月在其研究團隊發表於期刊《生態學和演化趨勢》(Trends in Ecology & Evolution)(改成斜體)的報告中寫到：「我們想要了解生物互助的起源，藉著回顧歷史(look back in time)，我們可以看到領袖角色如何演變(evolve)。」

跨多物種研究

研究人員從多物種和四個面向(domain)上來檢視領導力的證據：族群移動、食物取得(acquisition)、群體內衝突調停(mediation)和群體間的互動或衝突。

研究人員史密斯表示，人類社會和動物社會之間在領導力和資源共享方面出現(emerge)許多相似處。

舉例來說，獅子是比較注重公平的(equitable)物種之一。她(史密斯)表示：「獅子會合作養育後代(breed)，個體會彼此幫助撫育(rear)後代(offspring)。在進食的時候也比較會公平分享。即使在狩獵過程中有明確的領導角色，但食物大致上還是共享的。我們在人類社會也觀察到與此類似的情形(similarity to . . .)。」

但與其他哺乳動物比較起來，研究人員也發現若干差異。

她(史密斯)指出，「我們觀察黑猩猩或土狼支配權力的方式，會發現其領導者具社會統治地位(dominant)並控制所有資源，相較起來(whereas)，人類社會往往是比較公平的，由領導者協助獲取的好處有更多會分享出來。」

共同特點(trait)

經驗是多數成功領導者的一個共同特徵。

「不管你多具個人魅力(charismatic)或你的母親是誰，那些事的重要性未必比得上個體實地的總經驗值」，研究人員史密斯述說著。她以大象為例，「我們注意到，大象社會是由群體中生活多年、長壽的(long-lived)並具此知識的女族長(matriarch)來發號司令(call the shots)。」

但研究人員也確實發現社會階層(rank)繼承的例外。

在斑點土狼之中，個體基本上是直接繼承母親的階級。史密斯說，「這些社會中，資源分配(distribution)就比較不公平。」

關於領導力的啟發

研究人員仔細觀察這些物種後認為，人類能從大象和其他哺乳動物社會中的互動關係來學習。

這些純真的(naïve)動物「不一定懂得協商或是探索他們的世界，但通過具有經驗的個體來領導，他們能產生新的理解」，史密斯說，「大象和其它一些動物能受惠於有見識之個體的領導力和經驗。」

「我們一再(time and again)發現，最成功的領導者實際上會把社會中所有的需求都考量進去(take . . . into account)」，她補充說，「具有經驗且最公正的領導者會供給團體最大的利益。」

領導者知道方法，會照著方法走，也會展現這個方法。史密斯和共同研究的人員表示，此看法在動物界很多地方都展現(on display)其有效性(validity)。 成功的、經驗豐富的領導者會鋪設通往成功社會的道路(pave the way for . . .)。

也許這個發現能在當前似乎不斷求新的世界中凸顯出(reinforce)經驗的重要性。