You’ve seen it. That office where the engineers are brilliant, the sales reps are sharks, and the product is actually good, yet the company is basically a ghost ship hitting icebergs in broad daylight. This is the classic "donkeys led by lions" problem. Except, usually, it’s the other way around.
The phrase itself is a bit of a historical ghost. Most people think of World War I. They think of the British infantry—the "lions"—being sent into the meat grinder of the Somme by incompetent generals, the "donkeys." It’s a gut-punch of a metaphor. It suggests that even the bravest, most capable people on earth can’t overcome a leader who doesn't have a clue.
But let's be real. In a modern business context, the "donkeys led by lions" dynamic is arguably more frustrating. You have a visionary leader—the lion—who has the roar, the mane, and the big ideas, but they are trying to drive a workforce that has been "donkey-fied" by bad culture, poor training, or sheer burnout. Or, perhaps more accurately, you have a team of potential lions being treated like pack animals. It’s a mess.
The Brutal Reality of the Lions and Donkeys Trope
Historians like Alan Clark popularized the "Lions Led by Donkeys" phrase in his 1961 book The Donkeys, critiquing the British High Command during the Great War. While modern historians like Brian Bond or Gary Sheffield argue that this was a massive oversimplification—noting that the British Army actually underwent a "learning curve" that eventually won the war—the emotional weight of the phrase stuck. It describes a fundamental disconnect between the front lines and the command tent.
In your company, the "front line" is the person answering the support tickets or writing the Python scripts. If they are lions—capable, fierce, autonomous—but the person at the top is a donkey—stubborn, slow, and resistant to new information—the whole system breaks.
You can't out-work a bad strategy. No amount of "lion-hearted" effort saves a plan that was doomed by a donkey's ego.
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Why High Performers Turn Into Pack Animals
Ever wonder why a stellar hire turns into a "quiet quitter" after six months? They didn't lose their talent. They just realized the system doesn't reward lion-like behavior. If a lion tries to take initiative and gets brayed at by a middle manager who is terrified of change, that lion eventually stops roaring. They start carrying the load, eyes down, doing exactly what they’re told. They become donkeys.
It’s a survival mechanism.
Think about the "Sunk Cost Fallacy." A leader (the donkey in this scenario) decides on a path. They’ve spent $2 million on a software transition that isn't working. The lions on the team see the disaster coming. They speak up. The donkey digs in their heels because donkeys are notoriously stubborn. Eventually, the lions realize that speaking up only gets them kicked. So, they stop. They disengage.
The Psychological Toll of Misaligned Leadership
There’s actual science behind this. Self-Determination Theory (SDT), developed by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, suggests that humans need three things to thrive: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
When you have a "donkey" leader—someone who micromanages (killing autonomy) and ignores the expertise of their staff (dismissing competence)—the psychological contract is incinerated. You’re left with a workforce that is technically present but mentally elsewhere. It’s expensive. Gallup’s "State of the Global Workplace" reports have consistently shown that disengagement costs the global economy trillions. That’s a lot of wasted lion power.
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When the Lion is the Problem
Wait. Let’s flip it. What if the leader is a lion?
A lion leader is charismatic, aggressive, and fast. They want results yesterday. But if they haven't cultivated a team of lions, they end up dragging a line of donkeys behind them. This happens a lot in startups. The founder is a force of nature. They hire people to "execute," but they never actually empower them. They treat their staff like beasts of burden rather than partners in the hunt.
The result? The founder burns out because they’re doing all the thinking, and the staff burns out because they’re doing all the heavy lifting without any of the glory or agency.
Spotting the Signs in Your Own Organization
How do you know if you’re living through a "donkeys led by lions" (or vice versa) situation? Look for these red flags:
- The "Meeting After the Meeting": This is where the real lions gather in the hallway to talk about why the plan the "donkey" leader just proposed is going to fail.
- Zero Upward Feedback: If the only person talking in a room is the boss, you’re looking at a donkey stable.
- The Talent Exodus: Lions don't stay where they aren't allowed to hunt. If your best people are leaving for "lateral moves" at competitors, it’s not the pay. It’s the leadership.
- Process Over Purpose: When "that’s how we’ve always done it" becomes the standard response to a new idea, the donkey has won.
Turning the Herd Into a Pride
You don't fix this with a pizza party or a "culture memo." You fix it by changing the power dynamics.
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First, let's talk about Psychological Safety. Amy Edmondson, a Harvard professor, coined this term. It’s the belief that you won't be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, or mistakes. In a "lions led by donkeys" environment, psychological safety is zero. The donkeys are too busy protecting their status. To fix it, the person at the top has to be the first one to admit they don't have all the answers.
Second, kill the "Great Man" theory of leadership. We love the idea of the lone lion leading the way, but modern business is too complex for one person to know everything. The best leaders today act more like "scaffolders." They provide the structure for others to climb.
What Actually Works: Real-World Shifts
Look at how the military actually evolved away from the "Donkey General" trope. The Prussian (and later German) concept of Auftragstaktik, or mission-type tactics, changed everything. Instead of telling a soldier exactly how to take a hill (which is donkey leadership), the commander tells them why the hill needs to be taken and gives them the resources to figure out the how.
In business, this is "Objectives and Key Results" (OKRs) done right. It’s not about tracking hours; it’s about tracking outcomes.
If you’re a leader and you feel like you’re surrounded by donkeys, ask yourself: "Am I letting them be lions?" If you’re an employee and you feel like you’re being led by a donkey, ask yourself: "Is this a temporary situation, or is the stubbornness structural?"
Actionable Steps to Reclaim the Pride
If you suspect your organization is suffering from this leadership mismatch, you can't just wait for a miracle. You need to poke the system.
- Audit Your "No" Count: If you’re a manager, track how many times a week you say "no" to a subordinate’s idea without a data-backed reason. If it’s more than 20%, you’re drifting into donkey territory.
- The "Lions" Assessment: Identify the top 10% of your performers. Are they given more autonomy than the bottom 10%, or are they saddled with more "donkey work" because they’re reliable? Shift the burden.
- Stop the "Donkey" Language: Eliminate phrases like "stay in your lane" or "that’s above your pay grade." These are the verbal fences that keep lions in cages.
- Implement "Red Teaming": Borrowed from intelligence agencies, this is where a group is specifically tasked with finding flaws in a leader's plan. It forces the "donkey" to listen and allows the "lions" to exercise their critical thinking without fear of retribution.
Ultimately, the goal isn't just to have a lion at the front. It's to ensure that the entire organization is capable of hunting, adapting, and surviving without needing to be whipped into motion. Stop settling for a line of donkeys. Start building a pride.