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A new study links left-handedness with entrepreneurial success.
Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg are all left-handed CEOs.
The analysis included over 1,000 CEOs from 472 companies.
A new study may have found the secret to the success of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, three visionary CEOs, responsible for developing billion-dollar enterprises. While all three have strong leadership, strategic vision and effective communication as key attributes, researchers at the Donald G Costello College of Business revealed that there is something else that the trio have in common.
All three CEOs are left-handed, and as per the study published in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, there is a link between left-handed entrepreneurs and innovation and higher returns for companies.
“CEO decisions may be shaped by factors like family experiences, genetics, academic background, career paths, and more, really, the full range of experiences that makes them who they are,” said Professor Long Chen, co-author of the study.
For the study, the researchers analysed more than 1,000 CEOs across 472 companies. They went through photos and videos of CEOs engaged in activities such as writing, drawing, eating and throwing to determine their dominant hand. When in doubt, they made calls or sent emails to the respective companies for clarification.
“We also noted which wrist they wore their watch on; left-handed people often wear it on the right.”
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Study findings
The vast majority of CEOs were found to be right-handed (91.4 per cent) while 7.9 per cent were left-handed, and 0.7 per cent mixed. Further analysis revealed that firms led by left-handed CEOs demonstrated significantly higher innovative output and had more unique patents.
“The results indicate that firms transitioning from a right-handed to a left-handed CEO subsequently experience a greater increase in the number of patents and citations granted. However, we do not find a similar change in innovation output for firms transitioning from a left-handed to a right-handed CEO,” the study highlighted.
The results also suggested that firms managed by left-handed CEOs were likely to hire more foreign employees, who tend to generate more innovation outputs than domestic employees. This suggests that left-handed CEOs may be more open-minded, fostering creativity and driving greater innovation.