(Neuro)Leadership and Marketing: How leaders promote themselves and how we perceive them

This book explores the intersection of neuroscience, leadership, and marketing to provide a comprehensive analysis of how leaders craft their self-image and influence public perception. It bridges scientific insights with practical applications, offering a dual lens of understanding: 1- how leaders position themselves strategically, on the basis of classic and modern leadership theories (which in the second chapter are compared to marketing self-branding strategies); 2- how it is possible to assess this strategic positioning with several methods, among which there are the tech-driven methods of neuro-marketing/neuroleadership. This is a new-born discipline that, through neuroscientific methods, enables an advanced evaluation of leadership by analysing how leaders impact followers' perceptions, motivations, and decisions. The book, therefore, in the form of a literature review of all the above-mentioned topics plus an empirical investigation of neuroleadership, begins by introducing the concept of neuroleadership, focusing on how neuroscience can explain leadership behaviours and their effects on followers/fans of the leaders: using research on brain functions such as emotional processing, decision-making, and social cognition, it elucidates how leaders can consciously or unconsciously shape perceptions. Following, there is a central section dedicated to the classic and modern theories of leadership and those of marketing/self-branding: this section dives into how leaders, whether in politics, business, or public life, employ marketing principles to build and sustain their personal brands. The concluding section makes an excursus from the first to the latest tools for assessing leadership strength: it also comprises the paragraphs dedicated to Neuroleadership/Neuropolitics. Finally, after the neuropolitics experiment, conducted in collaboration with BrainSigns (spin-off of neuromarketing at Sapienza), the concluding section offers insights to actionable recommendations for leaders aiming to refine their self-promotion tactics. The originality of the book lies in the fact that it is the first volume in the world to make a significant comparison among leadership and marketing to present a novel framework for understanding also the latest frontier in this sector, which is neuroleadership. Moreover, the book presents a research of neuropolitics and serves as a guide – based on existing well known literature review - for aspiring and established leaders, consultants, and researchers, offering tools to enhance influence and ethical strategies to build lasting credibility. By uncovering the mechanisms of influence and perception, “(Neuro)Leadership and Marketing” provides a roadmap for leaders seeking to thrive in a competitive and increasingly scrutinized world, and by integrating neuroscience, marketing, and empirical research, it provides a nuanced understanding of how leaders promote themselves and how their audiences perceive them. It highlights the power of authentic communication while warning against the ethical dilemmas posed by advanced AI technologies in leadership contexts.