The Respect Effect: Using the Science of Neuroleadership to Inspire a More Loyal and Productive Workplace

CHAPTER 2 Connected Through Evolution

One of the most illuminating perspectives on human interaction that I’ve read recently was in Daniel Goleman’s book, Primal Leadership.¹ Goleman refers to human beings as “open loop systems.” From an evolutionary perspective, our species is more connected to each other than most people realize. Over the course of millions of years, our ancestors developed highly specialized brain circuitry that constantly monitored other people when we were in their presence. In psychology, there’s a concept called theory of mind which refers to the ability to identify mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions, perspectives, etc.) in ourselves and others, and to realize that the two states are often different. Grasping ...