“It’s lonely at the top,” said Henry IV in the play by William Shakespeare. One of the biggest challenges for leaders is isolation that creates loneliness, wrote Howard Gardner in his book, “Leading Minds.” We may be part of a church or club, or on dynamic teams at work, yet really opening up to others is difficult. Few people understand the entrepreneur’s willingness to risk it all, their willingness to take on the biggest challenges, and their passion and energy that drives projects to conclusion. “Like iron sharpens iron,” leaders need other leaders.
Ecclesiastes 4 describes an isolated worker that “falls” and is helpless, but it says that two can protect and help each other, and get a better return for their labor. It concludes with, “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” Who makes up your cord of three strands? Who are the three people that know you, understand you, love you, and challenge you? KEN was created to so that Christian business leaders know each other, stand together, and win the battles.
King Solomon wrote about “the fool,” that is always making bad choices. The fool is alone, as are the powerful, famous, brilliant Christian leaders that make headlines because they failed to manage their anxieties, addictions, anger, and temptations. They made tragic errors that destroyed families, finances, or physical, spiritual, and emotional health because they were isolated. Leaders with intimate relationships still face temptations, and still make mistakes, but we help each other get up when we fall, and we win the biggest battles together.
KEN encourages intimacy with God. We pray for, and with, each other so that we know Him, and his will and the call on our lives. Members of KEN know the deep satisfaction that we get by using leadership to serve God and transform culture.