IS IT LONELY AT THE TOP?

If you are reading this post, you may have asked yourself this very question, does it have to be lonely at the top? John Maxwell would say emphatically, “no.”  

In his book, The Leadership handbook John Maxwell writes about the “lonely leader.” In that chapter of the book, Maxwell asserts that if a leader is lonely then they are in his words, “doing something wrong.” In other words, if it is lonely at the top it doesn’t have to be. What I like about Maxwell is that he doesn’t just make assertions without also offering practical and pragmatic steps to correct the deficiency in our leadership arsenal. He offers the following four changes that any leader can incorporate immediately to make a marked difference in their leadership to avoid the feelings of isolation and loneliness. They are:

Maxwell argues that a leader should Avoid Positional Thinking. Leadership, he argues should be relational and not positional. While this makes perfect sense, how many times have we encountered leadership who put their position above relationships? Have you ever served with or under a leader who was more concerned with their title than they were with getting to know others? Do you remember how they made you feel? Positional leaders create distance because they are more concerned with keeping their position than they are with ensuring that others are developed as well.

The second change Maxwell offers is to Realize the Downsides of Success and Failure. Simply he argues that both success and failure can be dangerous. Why? Because either success or failure for a leader can lead them to withdraw or avoid people. Again, an effective leader and a leader who is not isolated from the people he or she are trying to serve must be intentionally present.

The third change Maxwell suggests is to understand We Are in the People Business. Regardless of what field, industry or setting, we are offering leadership, we are inevitably in the people business. I once heard Dr. Cornel West say that you can serve people you don’t love. Maxwell says it this way that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. I have found this to be accurate. The more time you spend with the people meeting them where they are, the more effective your leadership will be among that group of people. We must love the people we are called to serve.

The fourth change Maxwell provides it the need to Buy into the Law of Significance.  The Law of Significance according to Maxwell is important because “one is too small a number to achieve greatness.” He posits that nothing of significance was ever accomplished by one person. It requires a team and the buy-in of the team. He shares that in his organization “people don’t work for him, they work with him.” This is the law of significance. The understanding that we need each other. The understanding that nothing of any significance is ever accomplished by a lone ranger or by a dysfunctional team, where people are trying to outshine one another.

I am reminded of the disciples of Jesus, who on several occasions argued among themselves, who would be the greatest among them. And Jesus at every turn reminded him that greatness is connected to serving others. Jesus understood that if our only concern is making it to the top, we will soon discover that it really is lonely at the top, especially if our leadership is only about us.