Can Someone Be Born to Lead? Leadership Can Be an Inherited Trait, Study Finds.

Differences in the genetic makeup of individuals are significantly associated with the likelihood that people will take on managerial responsibilities, according to new research from University College London.

Scientists discover one can be born with leadership abilities

The study, published online in Leadership Quarterly, is the first to identify a specific DNA sequence associated with the tendency for individuals to occupy a leadership position. Using a large twin sample, the international research team, which included academics from Harvard, NYU, and the University of California, estimate that a quarter of the observed variation in leadership behaviour between individuals can be explained by genes passed down from their parents.

"We have identified a genotype, called rs4950, which appears to be associated with the passing of leadership ability down through generations," said lead author Dr Jan-Emmanuel De Neve (UCL School of Public Policy). "The conventional wisdom -- that leadership is a skill -- remains largely true, but we show it is also, in part, a genetic trait."