Leadership: Lonely or Alone

You must have heard the phrase ‘it’s lonely at the top’.

It is said mostly in the context of leadership. And this got me thinking! Can or should anyone be subjected to loneliness!

Is it one of the perils of being a ‘Leader’?

I say ‘yes’. It is one of the perils of a leader of ‘little men’, men made little by the leader. When you chose to create such people, you are lonely, and you better be watching your back!

When Neil (Robert De Niro) tells Eady (Amy Brenneman) in the biographical crime thriller, Heat (1995), that he is ‘alone but not lonely’, he means it.

Look at the team that Neil has created for his venture! Above everything, the team is highly committed to each other. All of them are completely into each other; no one’s lonely not even the leader!

And that is the reason the team watches each other’s back and families with their lives. No one runs or surrenders for himself; everyone stands for the team. That's what makes Neil get Trejo's (un)loyalty and does him a favor.

All so fancy, filmy and rhetoric. Yes, that's what good things sound like at first- out-of-reach!

Let’s look at how a ‘lonely-leader’ is made???????

1)?????You take the dough (the largest item) of ‘ego’

2)?????Mix it with water of ‘no-care-attitude’

3)?????Let it ferment for long time in ‘directionless’

4)?????Pepper it with more than occasional ‘smirks’, ‘blames’ and ‘chest-thumping' ?

And VOILA! You have yourself a lonely leader! The only way he can lead is by belittling his own. Thankfully for everyone, he is only going this far…?

What about the ‘Alone-leader’

1)?????‘Vision’, ‘thinking’, ‘looking-out’ at the future are the main ingredients here

2)?????His oven is 'vulnerability', to relate with people around

3)?????Makes hard-dough decisions but standing in ‘contribution’. Not every job is for everyone!

4)?????He chaffs out all the ‘blame’ and sprinkles all ‘credit’

And he does all this for the team, for the larger cause. ‘Edge Greatness Out’ is not his mantra!?

And why to give-up the fake, self-baked, glory. You have worked so hard for this name, which everyone will forget once you retire... why not enjoy it while it lasts!?

Let’s look at what Patrick Lencioni has to say about committed and engaged employees: ?

? 84% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact the quality of their organization's products, compared with only 31% of the disengaged

? 72% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively affect customer service,

versus 27% of the disengaged

? 68% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact costs in their job or

unit, compared with just 19% of the disengaged

• And only 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????And it’s the leaders who have to carry this cross! ?

But then you have a Bosco (Ted Levine) in every team, who became the reason for the demise of the entire team and its future. Should a leader not be on the lookout for such moles. Yes! but can you be 'Anna... chaubees ghante chaukanna', not trusting anyone around!

One, you can not make all suffer because of few least of all your idea!

Second, have a mechanism for early detection and weaning out of the unfit; this is where Neil messes!

But do not fail to create a team of ‘great-men’, as only these will remit growth, protection or glory to your ideas and you and let you have ‘Alone’ time for your next (ad)venture.?

Will you start by being present to and managing your EGO?