The Myth of Isolation in Leadership

I’ve heard it my whole life — leadership is lonely. There was rarely an objection or another perspective offered. Across different careers and contexts, people kept remarking on the loneliness of leadership. Those kinds of thoughts, the ones that never get challenged, are dangerous territory. With any brooding, pessimistic thought, we tend to turn it into a self-fulfilling prophecy. We think it, so we build it. I have become increasingly convinced that many leaders (especially pastors) move beyond experiencing isolation to the point where they begin to build it into their lives.