After World War I, those who had become adults amidst the violence and austerity found themselves isolated from other age groups, especially those who had come of age prior to the war. This group came to be known as ‘the lost generation’. Ernest Hemingway and Paulo Coelho have both written about the loss of self, the weakening of inner strength, and the dilemmas of
the lost generation, establishing a ‘Dejection to Determination’ allegory. The Ernest Hemingway-Paulo Coelho Code (EH-PC Code) of Leadership, SelfEnhancement, and Determination is rooted in the works of these two literary giants. This article considers The Old Man and the Sea and The Alchemist, and how these texts approach selfhood and self-determination among those of the lost generation. Hemingway and Coelho adhere to the established and relevant attributes of leadership in their selected works. This article will
further deliberate up on the making of Santiago as a Leader, their adherence to the EH-PC Code, and the establishment of a leadership treatise.