Solitude and Leadership (2010)

theamericanscholar.org

43 points·krn··5 comments

"The position of the leader is ultimately an intensely solitary, even intensely lonely one. However many people you may consult, you are the one who has to make the hard decisions. And at such moments, all you really have is yourself."

There are different types of leaders. You could lead by example. You could inspire, but avoid making decisions for the group, letting them make their own decisions. That's still leadership, but it's not a dominating, controlling type.

As Saint Exupery once said, "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."

I think, these are exactly the things which can come to you in solitude, perhaps reading Saint Exupery.

Forgive my inarticulacy, but this is really just so, so great.

I hates endless essays made to describe simple ideas.

Yes u need to have times of separation from the 'Leaded' group to enable the introspection which lead to rational thoughtful and more appropriatz decision making.

This is very clear in the military: a lot of brotherhoodship and fun in soldiers group, very little in officers. And both dont mix.

For real. This dude could have just said "the lone wolf alpha-male archetype is rooted in truth" and then wrote a listicle supporting his points and he would have gotten his argument across so much better. He formatted it as a long-winded essay for no apparent reason but his choice of format actually inhibits understanding his point, it doesn't enhance its understandability in any way.

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