"It's lonely at the top."
They say.
"Leadership is a lonely journey."
They say.
"The road to the top is lonely."
They say.
What if they're all wrong?
To experience this is to live and accept one reality of how you do you.
What if this phrase says less about the journey of leadership and more about the habits that create a leader?
What if leadership in itself isn't "lonely at the top." What if most leaders generally feel alone?
What if this loneliness is the root of what drives leaders?
What if the reasons leaders are called "leaders" is because, at some level, they are trying to lead themselves out of loneliness?
What if, the stronger and more forceful the leader, the more lonely they really are?
Language creates your experience of how you do your life.
There was a time when I used to live within the language set forth by others.
It often went like this...
Someone, often with high energy, would ramble off some phrase or catchy sentence.
And then, I would think, "Oh, yes! Yes, that makes sense! So that is the way it is."
I did this with many things.
In business, life, and in relationships.
And then one day I learned how to see.
I realized how much I misinterpreted life.
The focus faded away to living within the confines of these fancy statements, often called wisdom or truth, and I started asking...
How do I want to experience leadership?
Do I want leadership to be lonely?
If yes, then continue in that model of leadership: "leadership is lonely."
If no, then don't make it lonely.
How do you not make leadership lonely?
Find your confidant.
Find the one who can listen and understand you.
I am this for many.
After all, unless you're living by accident, you get to choose who you put in your corner.
You get to choose what individuals or groups you want around you.
Because at some point, leaders may realize that they are unable to lead themselves to meaningful human connection through a company.
