Contemporary culture worships an almost mythological figure: the garage hero. It’s that hyper-individualistic tale of the indomitable visionary who, armed only with ingenuity, a cup of cold coffee, and a laptop, defies the world and builds an empire from nothing. We love this narrative because it fuels the illusion of total control over our destiny. However, this approach masks a trap of isolation that is exhausting both leaders and their teams.

Pope Francis, in his encyclical Fratelli tutti, hits the nail on the head by dismantling this illusion, explaining that individualism does not make us freer, more equal, or more fraternal, even going so far as to describe radical individualism as the most difficult virus to defeat. If we scratch the surface of any business success story, what we find is not a social void, but a dense relational fabric. Genius does not flourish in a desert, but in an ecosystem.

The chimera of the ego and the cost of hypercompetitiveness

The myth of the “self-made man” assumes that talent and individual effort are the only variables in the economic equation. This approach fosters a high-pressure corporate culture that places the entire burden of success—and failure—on the shoulders of the individual.

The result? Leaders burned out by burnout syndrome (extreme exhaustion), disengaged teams who feel like mere replaceable parts of a machine, and a climate of chronic distrust.

When success is defined in strictly individual terms, others cease to be collaborators and become competitors or exploitable resources. The Church’s social doctrine has warned for decades that viewing the economy in this way distorts human nature itself. We are not self-sufficient islands; we are inherently relational beings.

The company as a community of people

In contrast to the cold view of the company as a mere machine for maximizing profits for shareholders, Catholic social thought proposes a radically more fruitful and humane model: the company as a community of people.

Saint John Paul II masterfully expressed this in his encyclical Centesimus annus, clarifying that a company cannot be considered solely as a “capital society,” but is also a “society of persons.” Within it, both those who contribute the necessary capital for its activity and those who collaborate with their labor become part in diverse ways and with specific responsibilities.

The success of an organization, therefore, is not the sole achievement of the person who signs off on decisions in the corner office, but rather the fruit of collective talent. Every level of the organization, from the operator who attends to the smallest detail on the production line or the cleaning staff who ensure a dignified environment, to the strategy designer, contributes an intrinsic value to the final product or service. Success is, in essence, a relational achievement.

The paradigm of the Civil Economy: the market with a soul

This perspective is directly linked to the tradition of Civil Economy, a school of thought born in the Italian Enlightenment and revived today by economists inspired by Christian humanism. Civil Economy reminds us that the market does not have to be a blind and ruthless space; it can and should be a place of reciprocity, fraternity, and the pursuit of the common good.

From this perspective, the true financial engine is not the cutthroat competition that destroys the environment, but rather the trust within the social fabric. An entrepreneur may have a brilliant idea, but they need an educational system that has trained its employees, a legal framework that guarantees legal certainty, a community of customers willing to place their trust in them, and a network of suppliers that keeps its word.

Success, therefore, is never a title of absolute private property, but rather generates a social dividend. It is not an act of charity after the accumulation of wealth, but rather a conception of economic activity itself as a creator of integral value for all of society.

Towards a new leadership: the leader as a facilitator of communities

Overcoming the myth of the lone entrepreneur doesn’t diminish the value of entrepreneurial initiative; on the contrary, it elevates it. The true leader of the 21st century isn’t the one who seeks to be served or worshipped like a corporate messiah, but rather the one who recognizes themselves as a node in a network of relationships.

While hyper-individualistic leadership sees the leader as the sole source of vision, treats employees as mere costs, and fosters isolation, relational leadership understands success as a collective achievement, views the company as a community of people, and generates lasting, holistic value.

When an entrepreneur replaces “I” with “we,” management changes completely:

• Subsidiarity is rediscovered: Teams are empowered, recognizing that creativity and real solutions often emerge from those who are in direct contact with everyday problems.
• Gratitude is encouraged: Success is celebrated as a shared milestone, restoring dignity to work at all levels.
• Processes are humanized: Economic profitability ceases to be an absolute goal and becomes the indicator that the human community called a company is healthy, generates trust, and contributes real value to society.

No one reaches the top alone because, in reality, the top isn’t a narrow point where only one person can fit. True economic and human success is much more like a fertile valley cultivated together: a space where genuine collaboration sustains, drives, and gives meaning to wealth.