Professor Dr Nigel Nicholson: Leveraging Evolutionary Psychology

She drove me to discover a passion for understanding other people as unique beings, what motivates them and how best to relate to them. Even now, I find inspiration in the life stories of others, in watching and supporting my family and friends, helping clients and students feel confident, courageous and ready to confront challenges. Our greatest superpower is being human. We are able to learn how to understand others and help them, as well as understand how the world works and solve its problems.

This was a pivotal moment in my life and an experience that has certainly influenced who I am today. Equally transformative personal events include discovering the power of psychology to transform people’s experience of work and organisations, awakening to the science of the new Darwinian synthesis and its profound implications for all of us, becoming a father and fostering meaningful friendships. 

They know what they are best at and what their weaknesses and blind spots are. They are profoundly humane and understand their role is to serve others to help people individually and collectively to address the unique challenges of their situation and move with purpose towards the future they want to see emerging. Were I sitting next to another leading expert in my field of professional activities, I would ask them: ‘What is the most profound insight you have derived from your work?’ For me, something that I have achieved – and that has had a surprising impact on others – is the use of personality profiling to help understand the unique dilemmas leaders and teams face. 

Experiment with experience; put yourself in new and unfamiliar situations and observe closely your response to them and what it tells you about your priorities, values, skills and character. I have found that over the course of your career, things will shift in terms of importance. To me, achievements and honours mean much less; I care more about the preciousness of time and doing the right thing in relation to others. The six words that best describe my mantra for living a good life would be curiosity, love, understanding, laughter, compassion and mindfulness. 

To facilitate your personal reflection, every now and then, I would suggest posing the questions: ‘When did you make tough decisions to reverse, change, start or stop something that has stopped functioning as it should?’ and ‘When and where do you experience moments of transcendence, peace, joy, and insight?’

for what I have been able to give in wisdom, insights, and liberation to my beloved spouse, siblings, children, grandchildren and friends. Secondly, I would like to be remembered for my contribution to society through teaching and working with people I have helped through life events and career transitions. Thirdly, for my writings, ideas and intellectual legacy. I would like to challenge people to reconsider the norm. Norms are cultural, and culture evolves by people questioning it and pushing the boundaries. We need norms to feel comfortable with each other, but we need to deal with them as agents, not subjects. 

In his endorsement of my leadership book, he called me ‘the most insightful and perceptive observer of leadership and organisational dynamics since Peter Drucker.’ It felt especially rewarding to be recognised partly for my ability to see the world from others’ perspectives, a quality that I feel is perhaps less known. 

Our dog Lulu joined us for our adventures across Wales, Ireland, France, Spain, Austria and Germany. However, the place I always look forward to returning to is our holiday home in Swanage, Dorset.