Leadership can be lonely … but that is most often a choice.
Leaders must not only surround themselves with great people, they must spend time with those people.
Too many leaders lead and live in isolation. Isolation is a lonely place. When you lead from a lonely place doubt, self-reliance, suspicion, fear, and pride all grow.
Sure, there are often problems that only you as ether leader can solve, but this doesn’t mean you don’t share the burden of your leadership with a small, trusted group of your closest followers.
Lonely leaders are rarely life-giving leaders. It’s very difficult for a lonely leader to truly be life-giving to others.
Why?
Because a lonely leader operates often at a deficit, not in an overflow. This is often a deficit of thought, energy, emotion or empathy.
Leaders often excuse themselves, as they should, for a time to get away, reflect, or process. However, staying away further perpetuates the perceived distance between a leader and a follower. Only really until the last 100 years or so have leaders
not led
from
the front.
The cure for leadership loneliness is to get in the work where your people are and work with them. The cure for leadership loneliness is to stand shoulder-to-shoulder or sit side-by-side with those who are working hard for your team, department, or organization.
Unless you are physically unable, loneliness is most often a choice. We self-select, which results in isolation.
As a leader, don’t make excuses for not enjoying the fellowship of those who serve and lead at a high level with you. That’s on you. If you want better fellowship, find better people.
The cure for a lonely leader is fellowship. All humans need a stimulating and welcoming community. It is the job of the leader to intentionally create a community that results in (not) forced fellowship.
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