Lessons in leadership: How to manage, according to monkeys
Think your office is full of monkey business? According to a study, that could be a good thing, with new research showing we could learn a few things from our treetop cousins.
Analysing the lives of 66 rhesus macaques, growth-minded scientists looked to discover what traits made for a good leader. The results? Revealing.
We’ve examined the science. Here’s what to learn from the best monkey leaders.
1. Be expressive
The study found having a diverse range of expressions – which included lip smacking, nose wrinkling and ear flattening – made monkey leaders better communicators by reducing uncertainty. So flex those facial muscles.
Work in the actors’ intense vocal warm-up into your 5am wake-up routine. Repeat after us: ooh, ooh, ahh, ahh. Stretch that mouth wide, pucker those lips and prepare for a day of emoting (facially) at a screen. Diaphragmatic breathing exercises, lip trills and straw phonation, articulation and tongue twisters are all encouraged.
“Facially expressive individuals may be better equipped to build and maintain strong social connections, potentially leading to the range of benefits associated with group cohesion, such as increased access to resources, mating opportunities, and protection from threats,” explains Dr Jamie Whitehouse, research fellow at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and lead author of the study.
Workers are often unemotional and inexpressive cogs in the machine: your job as a leader is to express the emotion that they lack access to. And oh boy, will they thank you for it (it relieves them of the distracting pressure of inner emotional turmoil, you see).
2. Communicate directly
Monkey leaders communicate better by making clear what their intent is and reducing uncertainty, the researchers said. So no more beating around the bush.
An underling came up with a new idea in the company thought shower? Drop that jaw. Phil from sales made another inappropriate joke? Raise those eyebrows. In emails, this can be done via emoticon. We recommend :O, 😀 and :’( as go-tos.
Issue orders and give feedback clearly. Monkeys don’t tend to use extra words. So: cut out jargon. Monkeys don’t give a dog’s about “synergy” – and neither should you.
3. Use your ears
Think about specific body parts. God gave you them for a reason, and monkeys have now proved that using all of them is an astute move. In the aforementioned study, scientists tracked 17 different types of expressions correlated to strong leadership, including puckering, mouth stretches and ear movements.
“Humans have evolved incredibly expressive faces with highly complex facial musculature, and these findings help us understand what advantage this has provided over evolutionary time,” said Bridget Waller, professor of evolution and social behaviour at NTU and research project lead.
So, move your ears. Now ear movements are hard to master – but you can easily learn according to Wikihow (no, it’s not necessarily a quirk of genetics). In the meantime though, how about becoming a good listener?
4. Lend a helping hand
Good monkey managers occupied central positions within their networks and fostered social cohesion through actions like friendly grooming interactions. Don’t do that, but do be friendly. A smile, a hello. Just don’t get tactile.
Comb through your minions’ reports with manual dexterity and give verbal praise readily. Offer treats and metaphorical head scratches in the form of extra pay. NOT in the form of free office snacks though.
Being known as a hands-on and generous manager will inspire trust and respect.
5. Stick together
Well you’d never guess it, but monkeys who make good leaders are those who spend the most time with their crew. It’s the same with homo sapiens. So spend as much time in the office as you can. Monkeys function best together. So too do colleagues.