Ancestral Mindset
Adopting an Evolutionary Framework to Lead, Influence, and Collaborate
Ancestral Mindset by thought leader and human relations expert John Daniel offers deep insight into what motivates us and drives our actions and how we can use that information to better lead, influence, and collaborate at work and home.
If human evolutionary history were compressed into a single calendar year with our earliest ancestor arriving on January 1, our transition from hunter-gatherers wouldn't occur until the end of December. We were hunter-gatherers for well over 90 percent of our collective history. The key to understanding us is understanding the hunter-gatherer neurocircuitry that crafted our human nature.
In Ancestral Mindset, John Daniel traces the development of the human brain from the birth of our species and applies his insights to teach leadership and teamwork from an evolutionary-neurological perspective.
Why is your fight-or-flight instinct on a hair trigger when the boss calls you in? Why does receiving advice from a colleague induce a threat state? Why does it feel so disproportionately risky to disagree with the team? The answers to those questions lie in our collective past.
As a heart-transplant recipient with decades of executive HR experience, Daniel knows a thing or two about risk, survival, and human behaviour from the operating room to the board room. His unique personal story and voracious appetite for research have led to a text as potentially transformative as it is bursting with information.
John Daniel is a veteran HR executive with deep experience in leading people and creating a positive company culture. He is a recognised thought leader and speaks at various organisations on culture, leadership, human behaviour, and change management.
After forty-seven years in the banking industry, John retired in 2021 – his most recent executive role having served as chief human resources officer at First Horizon Bank. He is a recipient of the 2020 James House Williamson Award for his contributions in advancing the HR profession.
In 2022, John was a fellow at Harvard University, studying social impact strategies as part of the Advanced Leadership Initiative. He is a social entrepreneur and owner of Bluff City Pickleball Club in Bartlett, TN – its mission to promote health, well-being, and social engagement.
John is active in his community and serves on the boards of the United Way of the Mid-South, Seeding Success, First 8, The Center for Transforming Communities, and River City Capital.
A heart transplant recipient, John and his wife, Leslie, were honoured in 2022 with the Living Heart Award by the American Heart Association for their contributions to the AHA. The annual award is now named in their honour.
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