Don’t be more than one hilltop ahead

What can Don Quixote teach us about leadership?

Today I saw this post from a leader in the UK I respect and am frequently inspired by, and it had me recall a leadership parable I have often found of value with clients, so will share it now. Who would have thought Don Quixote could teach us about leadership?

Don Quixote by Cervantes was one of the first great novels, published in the early 1600s.

The lead character lived a fantasy life, head in the clouds, detached from reality. Read the story and choose your own description!

He declared himself a knight, seeking chivalrous quests, often to save people from terrible fates.

Now you have a picture of this figure lost in fantasy, imagine Don Quixote on his horse, and imagining in his fantasy world he was the leader of a great army who all followed him as he leads from the front on his horse.

Though in reality his horse was constantly exhausted, he would have considered it a mighty and strong steed, and also his huge (of course!) army of foot…