Ian Leslie

Ian Leslie is the author of three acclaimed books on human behaviour.

“Conflicted”, “Curious” and “Born Liars” examines human psychology from different angles and have been translated into over a dozen languages. In his first book, “Born Liars: We All Do It But Which One Are You – Psychopath, Sociopath or Little White Liar?”, Leslie deep dives into why people lie and if it’s more central to our humanity than we like to admit.

In “Curious: The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends on It”, he argued that curiosity is a muscle that needs to be exercised and a habit parents, schools and workplaces need to nurture. While in his latest book, “Conflicted: Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together”, Leslie looked at the art and science of productive disagreement and how to put differences to work. Malcolm Gladwell, the author of five New York Times bestsellers, describes him as “one of my favourite writers”.

Prior to launching his writing career, Ian Leslie worked as a strategist for some of the world’s largest brand advertising agencies in London and New York.

A thought-leader on workplace culture, AI and behaviour science, Leslie has written for the Financial Times, the Economist, and the New Statesman. He is frequently invited by corporates to speak at conferences about curiosity, productive disagreement, communication, and creativity in the age of AI.

His Substack newsletter, The Ruffian, is highly recommended by Adam Grant, and has a readership of over twenty thousand subscribers every week. On The Ruffian, Ian Leslie writes about politics, psychology, and culture.

Ian Leslie is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He formerly presented the RSA podcast, “Polarised” with Matthew Taylor, where they explored political and cultural forces driving people further apart.

Ian Leslie lives in London with his wife and two children.