I have three cats and one dog. I know, I know, it’s a veritable farm in my house. The thing is, I only actively sought out two of these animals (the dog and one of the cats). The other two cats were “inherited”; by which I mean a family member called and asked if we (my partner and I) could take the cat for whatever (blah, blah, blah) reason. Since we couldn’t say no, we ended up with our own menagerie. Much like in human societies, this microcosm has found its own leader and her name is Lola.
Not only is Lola the smallest of the four, but she is also very pretty, something she seems to know and use to her advantage. She is all white with a fluffy orange tail, that she likes to flip back and forth as if to say, “Have you ever seen anything like this before?”. I realize I am anthropomorphizing my cat, but this is something all good pet owners do (let me believe that, please). My point is, she knows she’s the leader and is not afraid to wield her power as a weapon. Not only does she routinely slap around the 80 pound dog (she weighs 8 pounds), but she can cause the 20 pound male cat to flop on his back with only a glance. (I could be getting into some strange cat sexual power play here that I won’t even attempt to address.)
So how does this tie into leadership from a human perspective? Well, it doesn’t directly; however, it serves as a great analogy for some of the leadership types that we might encounter. Since it’s difficult to imagine a cat developing leadership skills, her position at the top of the hierarchy may best be described by the trait approach to leadership. There are 10 characteristics that commonly associated with positive leadership skills, of those Lola seems to possess a few (Northouse, 2013). She exhibits vigor and persistence in the pursuit of her goals; she takes risk to solve problems; she displays a great deal of self-confidence and personal identity; the ability to influence the behavior of others (granted there is often violence involved); and the willingness to tolerate frustration and delay (she’s a cat; it’s like a giant staring contest as far as she’s concerned).
What I’m trying to say with this (even though it may seem like a stretch to some), is that the ideals of leadership are similar in humans and animals. While we may not exhibit dominance based on violence (at least in most modern societies), we still express leadership behaviors that are pulled from a naturally intrinsic place. The ideas of leadership are conceptually meaningful and are corralled in combinations that produce basic ideas of leadership (Zaccaro, 2007). Even though we have evolved beyond the animalistic natures that may have been common to our very distant ancestors, the basic ideals of leadership are very similar. Be it a cat, a dog or an ape, the need to dominate and lead are carried between species and are more connected than we may like to admit.
References:
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice (Sixth edition). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
Zaccaro, S. J. (2007). Trait-based Perspectives of Leadership. American Psychologist. 62(1). Pp. 6-16.