When we think about leadership, we can't help but project ourselves into a Walter Mitty-like role. In case this doesn't ring any bells, it's an allusion to “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” an oft-anthologized story penned by James Thurber in 1941. Thurber's tale has its titular character daydreaming his way through life, chiefly because (from Walter Mitty's perspective) his daydream-scape – wherein he assumes the identity of an Air Force pilot, among other characters – seems preferable to the routine of his workaday existence.
The parallel to leadership has