There Is No Leadership Gene

Science hasn't been able to reliably sort through the biological and environmental variables that distinguish what makes a person unique.

Despite internet applications, LinkedIn profiles, social media networking and hiring algorithms designed to crunch employment variables and spit out the perfect candidate, employers still spent 44 days on average in 2015 working to fill a job opening. Time is money, people. And 44 days spent choosing the exact wrong candidate is money out the window. If only there was a better way.

Last week, Gartner analysts David Furlonger and Stephen Smith presented an idea at a symposium for information technology executives that the company itself acknowledges as "maverick" — a future where genetics plays a bigger role in the hiring process.

Although federal and states laws prohibit employers from requesting or using an employee's genetic information, genetic testing is mainstream. Millions of people voluntarily pay to have their genomes analyzed thanks to inexpensive DNA kits available from companies like Ancestry DNA , Genome , 23andMe, Family Tree, to name a few. And research is moving forward in fields...