Did you read The Little Prince… or The Prince?

Growing up in Portugal, there was one book almost every kid read: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The illustrations were beautiful, story felt simple, and yet most of us did not fully understand it until much later in life. Only as adults do we realize that its message is powerful, what truly matters is invisible to the eye like relationships, responsibility and empathy. I like to believe that this book quietly shaped many of us, reminded us to care, to see beyond status, to value people over power.

But then we grow up… we enter the workplace… and sometimes we meet people who make us wonder: did you read the same book I did?

And that’s when it hits me, maybe they did read it, but they just removed the “Little.” Maybe they went straight to The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, a slightly different bedtime story, less about taming a fox and more about taming your enemies, less about responsibility and more about control.

Sarcasm aside, I know that work is not always The Little Prince and sometimes decisions are tough and leadership requires a bit of The Prince. But no strategy, title, or authority should ever come at the cost of your core values. So wherever you are in your life, let the little prince live untamed inside you.