Cameron HeroldFounder of the COO Alliance & Invest In Your Leaders Training

Why Elite Leaders Act Like Merlin (Not King Arthur) | José Mejia

19 May 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:05

José Mejia argues that the best leaders work like Merlin, not King Arthur: they operate behind the scenes to empower others. AI amplifies this ability, letting leaders become better enablers. The question is whether leaders will redefine their role to facilitate creativity in others rather than hoard power.

Chapters

I've always thought of Merlin, Merlin with King Arthur. Merlin was always in the background, and Merlin yet was constantly enabling this King Arthur to be the greatest king there ever was. He's the one that convinced the king to dress as a normal human being and go into town and learn about the pains of the town. And I was so inspired by that in a way that I was thinking, you know, a great leader is like a Merlin. And nowadays even more so, like, you know, our job is to enable people to be to be incredible, to be the best they can be, to do things that they didn't think they could do. You know, hey King, why don't you dress like a normal self and then go into the streets, you know, and eat their food? I think that AI is doing, particularly for jobs like mine, it's enabling us to be more like a Merlin. People who can make others be successful and be creative. What is the role of leaders like us, and how do we then redefine I roll into this concept of being the Merlins that, you know, the world needs so badly.