Individuals, families and institutions are always on the move. Threats and opportunities often arise, unforeseen turns and unexpected events occur. Along the way, the personality of the person who leads and guide others is forged. We improve our leadership skills when we reflect on what is happening around us and analyze the impact of our decisions. But we can also learn valuable lessons from some fictional stories.

"The Lincoln Highway" can be read at core topic because sample the courage and determination of those who decide to face great challenges. Amor Towles' novel -translated to Spanish last year- tells the story of the journey of three young people and a boy along the highway that runs from East to West, from New York to San Francisco. At the beginning of the adventure, Emmett Watson, the protagonist of the story, could not have more elements against him: he returns to his family farm after spending a year in a correctional facility due to a fortuitous accident; his father, who has just passed away, has squandered the estate; his mother abandoned them long ago and he must become position of Billy, his eight-year-old brother; and when they get into the car, two friends, former classmates from the reformatory, join the expedition and do not stop getting into trouble.

The events are set in the fifties of the last century. Little by little, the reader is mesmerized by a variety of individuals whose behavior and approaches to life are mesmerizing: vagabonds who survive among the train tracks, Upper East Side aristocrats, artists who long for their years of splendor, a deceitful preacher or the nuns who take care of an orphanage. The vicissitudes take place in urban environments and in the rural world of deep America; but the interest of the work does not lie so much in what happens as in the human types that Towles draws with unquestionable mastery.

In their initiatory journey, the four young people reflect their amazement at each finding, while revealing their dreams and anxieties. The author allows each of them to speak in the first person. This narrative resource serves to give us insight into each unique perspective; it also financial aid us to reflect on life's decisive questions: how we choose our priorities; how we can avoid hasty decisions; how we discover whom we can trust; what mechanisms allow us to distinguish right from wrong; and for whom we are willing to risk our lives.

The conversations between the two brothers who carry the weight of the story place us in that permanent tension between idealism and realism, between daring and caution. Billy, the youngest, has not yet discovered that evil people exist. The future always seems promising to him: he is convinced that the clouds will soon disappear from the horizon. His naivety makes him recklessly trust any stranger; but this openness makes others want to protect him.

The oldest, Emmett, is more realistic because life has already played a few bad tricks on him. In addition, he has not received a careful Education and it is difficult for him to express his emotions. But he is an honest and loyal subject , who detects his own and others' faults and figures out how to correct them. "I will never borrow money," he says over and over again, obsessed with avoiding the mistakes of his father, who went into excessive debt to undertake impossible projects.

After the success of his first two novels - "Rules of Politeness" and "A Gentleman in Moscow" - Towles once again shows his skill ability to describe fascinating scenarios, to weave plots that appear and disappear, to investigate the eventful transition from youth to adulthood.

As with the governance of one's own existence, managing organizations is particularly complex; the result is never guaranteed, because the concatenation of several strategic successes does not guarantee success: sometimes employees overestimate themselves and expect recognition that is not theirs; customers often make erratic decisions or change their consumption habits for unsuspected reasons; technology and the evolution of the legal framework rapidly change the rules of the game; and we are never protected from natural, military or health catastrophes. Those at the head of any institution must combine analytical rigor and contextual intelligence; they must know how to make themselves position of reality, but - at the same time - they must understand the overwhelming impact of human teams acting with courage and tenacity.

In companies, technical issues are resolved by studying the available options and choosing the best alternative: this is the case, for example, when analyzing the cost of capital, the effectiveness of advertising media or the characteristics of production and distribution systems. Uncertainties begin when people, who are unique and unrepeatable, become involved. In this moment of hesitation, the great literary works provide an invaluable financial aid , because there is no better way to understand the heart of man.

"The Lincoln Highway" is a touching story, based on characters full of nuances. The protagonists' shortcomings are evident, but they are overcome by the fearlessness and unquestioning loyalty of the four friends. In the end, leadership is not about the absence of obstacles and limitations, about paths that are not steep and easy to follow, but about the ability to overcome the difficulties of every day.