Reasonable Leadership: A Lesson from the Little Prince

Dear Managers and Leaders!

I am re-reading the Little Prince from Saint-Exupéry at the moment. I am reading an excerpt every night to my son at the moment. He likes it, but I love it. For some reasons, I find this book so simple and so rich at the same time. It is always a joy for me to read this book!

Last night, I was reading chapter 10 of the Little Prince. It is describing the Prince visiting the planet of a king. The king tells the Little Prince that he reigns over the entire universe. The Prince, missing his sunsets, asks the King to make one happen. Here is what happens...

"I should like to see a sunset... do me that kindness... Order the sun to set..."

 "If I ordered a general to fly from one flower to another like a butterfly, or to write a tragic drama, or to change himself into a sea bird, and if the general did not carry out the order that he had received, which one of us would be in the wrong?" the king demanded. "The general, or myself?"
 "You," said the little prince firmly.
 "Exactly. One must require from each one the duty which each one can perform," the king went on. "Accepted authority rests first of all on reason. If you ordered your people to go and throw themselves into the sea, they would rise up in revolution. I have the right to require obedience because my orders are reasonable."
 "Then my sunset?" the little prince reminded him: for he never forgot a question once he had asked it.
 "You shall have your sunset. I shall command it. But, according to my science of government, I shall wait until conditions are favorable."
 "When will that be?" inquired the little prince.
 "Hum! Hum!" replied the king; and before saying anything else he consulted a bulky almanac. "Hum! Hum! That will be about-- about-- that will be this evening about twenty minutes to eight. And you will see how well I am obeyed."

I thought this excerpt was a really good lesson of leadership. If you want people to follow, you have to ask them things they can accomplish. And, if they fail, you are responsible for their failure! 

And what about you, dear leader, are you always asking reasonable things to your followers?

Until next time,

Remi Cote