How to be a good leader: biology backed

Do you see yourself as a leader?

“Research has shown that leaders and followers minds become interlinked- fused into a single system”
Harvard business review (1)

But what makes a good leader? Could biology help us understand leader-follower dynamics?

Before looking into this further let’s define what leadership is. Burak and colleagues define leadership as a ‘goal-influenced process which occurs between leaders and followers in order to achieve a common objective’ (2).

Cell migration: a leader-follower example from cell biology

Video taken from YouTube channel ScienceVio shows leader cells and follower cells moving during collective cell migration (5)

Scientists have proposed a leader-follower model for collective cell migration (an important phenomenon that occurs during processes like cancer metastasis, tissue repair and development) (4).

During this process follower cells are lead by leader cells who guide migration by occupying the front of the collective while follower cells are found in the cell reservoir (4). Think of it like an army marching forward, the first row of soldiers are the leader cells whilst the parade behind are follower cells.

Historically leader cells were considered the only ‘active’ cells in the migration with follower cells being thought of as passively following leader cells (4). However recently studies have shown follower cells to specialise.

In fact it has been found that leader-follower cells develop a front to rear polarity axis during movement (4). Movement occurs through a total collective effort. Put simply, both leader and follower cells work together to migrate, they are interlinked and the process would not function without both parties.

This can be applied to human leader-follower dynamics. Similar to cells, research often views followers as passive with leaders driving an organisations success or failure but recently more studies have looked into the significance of followers role in the leader- follower dynamic (2).

As Kellerman from Harvard Business review states, ‘there is no leader without at least one follower’ (6). She emphasises how the engagement, passion and investment of the followers is ultimately what makes a project successful (6). And ultimately, it is the followers who determine their leaders success (6).

Therefore a successful leader holds the interest of their followers close to heart, maintaining a good communication pathway to ensure synchronicity within an organisation. By doing this the team becomes a system, moving forward together, just like in the leader-follower model of cell migration.

Reference list:

1. https://hbr.org/2008/09/social-intelligence-and-the-biology-of-leadership

2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1048984322000777

3. https://www.td.org/atd-blog/the-science-of-the-leader-follower-relationship

4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8351552/

5. https://youtu.be/FS560TYaGvU?si=Oych3dSiC1ZgVVNC

6. https://hbr.org/2007/12/what-every-leader-needs-to-know-about-followers