Buen Camino: Everyone Walks the Same Path, but No One Walks the Same Journey

Happy New Year! 2025 has been marked with some significant trips for me and my wife, Lynn. Here is one story of significance from the Buen Camino trip.

Earlier this year, we had the privilege of walking a portion of the Buen Camino: the Camino de Santiago. In Portugal and Spain, It’s a centuries-old pilgrimage that attracts people from every background imaginable. Some walk for spiritual reasons. Some for adventure. Some for clarity. Some because, quite honestly, they don’t know what’s next and need the space to think.

That last reason resonates more than I expected.

What surprised me most wasn’t the physical challenge (though it’s real), or the beauty of the countryside (which is stunning). What stayed with me were the leadership parallels: quiet, persistent lessons that mirrored what I see every day in organizations, teams, and executive conversations.

Leadership, like the Camino, is not a sprint. It’s a long walk. And how you walk matters.

Fellow leader: Here are five leadership lessons the Camino reinforced for me: lessons I believe we all would do well to revisit.

1. You Don’t Have to See the Entire Route: You Just Have to Take the Next Step

One of the first things you learn on the Camino is that you cannot hold the entire journey in your head at once. Yes, you know the general direction. Yes, you may have an end point in mind. But day to day, sometimes even hour to hour, you’re focused on the next marker, the next hill, the next village.

Leadership works the same way. Too many leaders become paralyzed because they believe they must have absolute clarity before moving forward. The reality is that clarity often comes from movement, not from overthinking. Direction is refined as you walk.

On the Camino, yellow arrows appeared at just the right moment: on a stone wall, a signpost, the side of a building. They reassured us: You’re still on the path.

In leadership, those arrows are feedback, results, conversations, and learning moments. You don’t need to know everything. You need to know enough to take the next responsible step: and then pay attention.

Leadership takeaway: Progress beats perfection. Leaders who move thoughtfully, consistently, and humbly build momentum. Those who wait for certainty often never leave the trailhead.

2. Pace Yourself: Burnout Is a Leadership Failure, Not a Badge of Honor

We talked with several hikers who were clearly pushing too hard. Overloaded packs. Aggressive pace. Determined looks that said, I’ll muscle through this.

A few days later, some of those same hikers were injured, exhausted, or forced to stop.

Leadership has the same trap.

Many leaders confuse intensity with effectiveness. Long hours, nonstop availability, and constant urgency are often celebrated. But eventually, the body, the mind, or the culture pushes back.

Sustainable leadership requires rhythm. Rest. Recovery. Reflection.

One of the pilgrims we walked with was on his 23rd annual trek on the Camino. And he was pacing himself carefully. He hydrated. He stretched. He adjusted his pack regularly throughout the day. He knew the journey was not a sprint.

Great leaders do the same. They manage energy, not just time. They create margin. They model healthy boundaries: not because they are weak, but because they are wise.

Leadership takeaway: A leader who burns out takes others with them. Pace is not laziness: it’s stewardship.

3. What You Carry Matters: And Some Things Need to Be Left Behind

The famous Camino truism: Pack lighter than you think you should. And still, many people don’t listen.

For many hikers, by the second or third day, you can spot the lesson playing out. Shoulders slumped. Knees aching. Unnecessary items weighing people down.

Leadership has its own version of an overloaded pack. Unresolved conflict. Old grudges. Control issues. Ego. The need to be right. The belief that if I don’t do it myself, it won’t be done well.

These things weigh leaders down: and they weigh teams down too.

Strong leaders routinely ask: What am I carrying that no longer serves the mission or the people I lead? And then they have the courage to set it aside.

Leadership takeaway: Letting go is not loss: it’s leadership maturity. Lighter leaders lead farther.

4. Everyone Is on a Different Journey: And That Requires Empathy

One of the most beautiful aspects of the Camino is its diversity. We walked alongside young adults searching for purpose, retirees celebrating life, people grieving loss, people healing physically or spiritually.

Everyone walks the same path, but no one walks the same journey.

Leadership demands this same awareness.

Your team members are not all motivated by the same things. They are not facing the same pressures at home. They are not running at the same emotional, physical, or professional capacity.

Effective leaders learn to see people: not just roles.

On the Camino, kindness shows up in small ways: slowing your pace, offering encouragement, sharing food, buying a fellow pilgrim a coffee. Those moments create community.

In organizations, empathy does the same. It builds trust. Loyalty. Discretionary effort.

Leadership takeaway: You don’t have to lower standards to lead with empathy.

You simply have to raise your awareness.

5. The Journey Changes You: If You Let It

Very few who walk the Camino comes back the same. The walking creates space. The repetition creates clarity. The simplicity strips away noise.

Leadership journeys offer the same opportunity: if leaders are willing to reflect.

The best leaders I know don’t just accumulate experience; they extract wisdom from it. They ask hard questions. They invite feedback. They allow success and failure to shape them.

Leadership is not about arriving at a title. It’s about becoming someone worthy of trust along the way.

Leadership takeaway: Growth is optional: but stagnation is costly. Reflective leaders grow; unreflective leaders repeat.

Final Thought: Buen Camino, Leader

“Buen Camino” is a phrase pilgrims say to one another constantly. It means “good journey.” It’s both a blessing and a reminder: How you walk matters.

Leadership is the same.

It’s not just about where you’re going. It’s about how you lead, how you treat people, what you carry, and whether you’re willing to grow along the way.

Fellow leader – here’s my hope for you and me – and every leader I work with – that we choose the long, faithful walk over the hurried shortcut.

Buen Camino, Fellow Leader.