CEOs Often Feel Lonely. Here’s How They Can Cope.

The loneliness experienced by CEOs stems not from a lack of social connections, but from the heavy burden of leadership and decision-making—especially during crises, when they expect their board, senior executives, or operations managers to steady the ship, but feel they are not up to the task or divided. The research — a survey of 109 CEOs of large Canadian organizations, supplemented by in-depth qualitative interviews with 46 of them — suggests six strategies for alleviating loneliness that leaders can implement.

It’s lonely at the top. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. The further you go, the lonelier you become. Well-worn platitudes like these reflect our belief that being a CEO must be a lonely job. We picture them all alone in their office on the top floor, looking at the quarterly sales figures with an expression of horror. But does this picture reflect reality?