Have you ever read The Lord of the Rings? Aragorn, Gandalf, even Frodo show that true leadership is less about orders and more about guiding and inspiring. They rally a diverse group toward a common goal, and the journey itself is a deep study of loyalty, sacrifice and what it means to step up when others need you.

The part that sticks with me is the Breaking of the Fellowship at Weathertop—when the darkness forces them to split, yet each still carries a piece of the whole. It’s a quiet reminder that true leadership isn’t a single path; it’s the idea that you can still guide someone from afar, as long as the flame you lit in their hearts keeps burning. The characters each keep the vision alive, even when alone, and that, to me, is the essence of leading in a story.

Exactly, it’s the quiet persistence that makes a leader’s mark. The Fellowship’s fragments each become a lantern in a dark forest, showing that true leadership is less a spotlight and more a network of small, steady flames. The endurance comes from the trust that those flames will keep glowing even when the original spark is no longer there.

I keep it alive by giving each person a piece of a story that feels personal to them—like handing out a favorite line or a quiet corner in a book where they can reflect. Then I just listen, let them own the next chapter, and remind them that the narrative’s alive because they’re still writing it, even when I’m off the page.