Born Entrepreneurs, Born Leaders: How Your Genes Affect Your Work Life

279 Pages·2010·3.41 MB·English

by  Scott Shane

Born Entrepreneurs, Born Leaders
This page intentionally left blank
Born Entrepreneurs, Born Leaders
How Your Genes Affect Your Work Life
scott shane
1
2010
3
OxfordUniversityPress,Inc.,publishesworksthatfurther
OxfordUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellence
inresearch,scholarship,andeducation.
Oxford NewYork
Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi
KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi
NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
Withofficesin
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Copyright#2010byOxfordUniversityPress,Inc.
PublishedbyOxfordUniversityPress,Inc.
198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016
www.oup.com
OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,
storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,
electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise,
withoutthepriorpermissionofOxfordUniversityPress.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Shane,Scott.
Bornentrepreneurs,bornleaders:howyour
genesaffectyourworklife/ScottShane.
p. cm.
Includesindex.
ISBN 978-0-19-537342-4
1.Behaviorgenetics. 2.Psychology,Industrial. I.Title.
QH457.S532010
158.7 dc22 2009011648
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
onacid-freepaper
To Lynne, Ryan, and Hannah
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1. Introduction 1
2. DNAatWork:YourGenesandOrganizational
Behavior 16
3. WhyThatJob?TheGeneticFoundationsof
YourWorkInterests 42
4. HappyatWork?HowYourGenesAffectYourJob
Satisfaction 68
5. InstinctiveChoices:GeneticInfluencesonDecision
Making 81
6. DNAattheOffice:HowYourGenesAffectYour
ManagementStyle 100
7. BornLeaders?HowYourGenesInfluenceYour
ApproachtoLeadership 121
8. CreativeGenius?YourGeneticPredispositionfor
CreativityandInnovation 137
9. BornEntrepreneurs?HowYourGenesAffect
YourTendencytoStartCompanies 148
viii contents
10. GoodWorkers,BadWorkers:HowYourGenes
InfluenceYourJobPerformanceandYourIncome 166
11. YourGenesMatter!SoWhat? 182
Notes 203
Index 255
Acknowledgments
Idecidedtowritethisbookafterspendingseveralyearsresearchingthe
effects of genetics on entrepreneurial activity. Ever since my colleague
NicosNicolaoufirstcametomewiththeideaofexaminingthegenetic
basisofentrepreneurship,Ihavebeenfascinatedwithhowgenesinflu-
ence work-related behavior. It seems that the colloquial phrase “born
entrepreneur”istrue;somepeoplehaveaninnatepredispositiontostart
businesses.
While I enjoy authoring scholarly articles, carefully outlining my
researchformypeers,Ialsolikewritingforabroaderaudience.Ibelieve
thatgoodresearchcanbeexplainedtothoughtfulreadersinaclearand
entertainingway.Ihavewrittenbooksonanumberoftopicsthathave
followed this model of translating academic research into something
that nonacademic readers could follow and enjoy. But I had not done
thatformyworkongeneticsandbusiness.
At first I wasn’t sure that I should write such a book. I’m not a
genetics expert. I got interested in the topic from the perspective of
a business school researcher seeking to explain business, not from the
point of view of a geneticist seeking to examine genetics. But when
Ibegantopostsomeblogsaboutmyresearchongeneticsandentrepre-
neurship,Iwasemboldened.Therewastremendousinterestinthisline
of research (dare I say, much more than the other topics I have looked
at). Irealized thatmostpeopleweren’tinterestedinthesciencebehind
ix