The price of leadership is strange.

Tom Izzo, a master of sport and the forge of champions, once uttered: “The price of leadership is strange.” In these few words lies a truth as old as the mountains: that to lead is not to walk an easy path, nor to bear a crown of gold, but to carry a burden that others may never understand. The price is strange because it is hidden, unpredictable, and at times unbearable. It is not always paid in wealth or glory, but in sacrifice, loneliness, and the unseen wounds of responsibility. Yet those who walk the path of leadership know that this strangeness is the very fire that shapes greatness.

From the days of the ancients, we see that those who rise to lead pay this peculiar cost. Moses led his people out of bondage, yet spent forty years in the wilderness, often rejected by those he saved. Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome, wielded immense power, yet poured his heart into meditations on duty and endurance, knowing that the throne was less a privilege than a weight. Their price was strange indeed: to bear the doubts of others, to suppress their own desires, and to be both elevated and isolated at once.

This paradox shines in modern times as well. Consider Abraham Lincoln, who guided a divided nation through civil war. His leadership was marked not only by wisdom and resolve but also by sleepless nights, unrelenting criticism, and profound sorrow. Though he preserved the Union and struck the chains of slavery, he was despised by many in his own day. The price he paid was not only in labor but in the loss of peace, and ultimately, of his very life. Strange indeed is such a cost: to give everything, yet often to receive little honor until long after death.

The strangeness lies in this: those who are not leaders cannot fully perceive the burdens leaders bear. The follower may see only the visible crown, not the invisible thorns. They may see victory, but not the sleepless struggle that built it. The leader stands apart, bearing responsibility not only for themselves but for all who walk behind them. This solitude, this weight, this constant sacrifice of self for the greater good, is the strange price Izzo spoke of—a currency paid in silence, endurance, and courage.

Yet let us not think the strangeness a curse alone. For within it lies the making of greatness. The hardships carve depth into the soul. The loneliness teaches resilience. The criticism hones wisdom. Strange though it may be, the price of leadership transforms the one who pays it, and through them, transforms the many they serve. Without this cost, leadership would be hollow. It is the strangeness itself that gives it power, authenticity, and meaning.

The lesson is clear for all who would walk the path of a leader: do not seek it for ease or applause. Understand that the price you will pay may be misunderstood, unseen, or even ridiculed. You may give more than you receive. Yet in that giving, you will shape lives, change destinies, and carve a mark upon history. To embrace leadership is to embrace sacrifice—and to find in that sacrifice a nobility that no comfort could ever equal.

Practical action lies before us: if you are called to lead, prepare your heart for the strangeness. Be patient with misunderstanding. Accept criticism without bitterness. Sacrifice not with complaint but with resolve. And if you are one who follows, honor those who bear this price, for you may not see the full weight they carry. Encourage them, support them, and walk with gratitude, knowing that their strange burden is carried for your sake as well.

Thus Tom Izzo’s words, though spoken in the realm of sport, reach beyond into the eternal truth of life: the price of leadership is strange. Yet it is a price worth paying, for through it, the world is moved forward, one courageous soul at a time.