Loneliness in Leadership

There are things that only a few can do.  There is knowledge and understanding that only a few will ever have.  There are things so personal that cannot be shared.  This is the lot of a leader.

To be the one in charge sometimes means not letting others see that you might be nervous or unsure.  As the leader, you have to step up and be confident at all times.  These are lonely times.

A few months ago, my oldest daughter and I went to Japan to help with the clean up from the tsunami.  It was a remarkable experience and one that was very much guided and directed by God.  It has changed me.

One thing that happened, a situation I've never experienced before, was finding myself completely responsible for another human being with no tangible support system.  I have never flown on the trapeze without a net before.  There has always been my husband or my parents or some other human being there to help if there was a problem.

The first night in our apartment, I realized that the very ground I was standing on could fail me at any moment.  I also came to the reality that those we had arrived with us were in another part of town.  We hadn't been with them when they were taken to their quarters, and the people in charge lived in a closer apartment, but I only knew the building.  If something were to happen, would I go running through the walkways yelling their names?  Hmm.  That just didn't seem like a good idea.

To make matters worse, we had no cell phone access, no internet and no land line.  We didn't know our neighbors.  We didn't know anyone.

I knew I had only one net left--the greatest safety net possible.

After my daughter was in bed for the night, I shut myself into the closet-sized laundry room and got on my knees.  I expressed my concerns and told Him how much I needed Him.  I was immediately reassured and the fears never returned.  My loneliness disappeared.  I was there on His errand, and He was there to strengthen me.

In The Quest for Character, Charles Swindoll shares a story about the Library of Congress.  He speaks of a small box that holds the contents of Abraham Lincoln's pockets the night he was assassinated.  Fascinating!  The last thing listed was "Some old and worn newspaper clippings."  The story goes into further detail and explains that "The clippings were concerned with the great deeds of Abraham Lincoln...."

We all know that Lincoln was a humble man.  Not given to self-aggrandizement.  But, this just shows us that we all, even the very greatest among us, need a little pat on the back.  We need to be able to look back at what we've done and be reassured that it's good.  Even God in the creation of our world looked at each day and said that it was "good."

These little reassurances are wonderful miracles in our lives.  Yes, we will have our critics, but we need to cling to the fact that God is rooting for us.  Only in Him can we feel not so alone as we try to lead as He would.