 |
It's lonely at the top
It's lonely at the top - but as the CEO, what are you doing about that? What risks are you running?
It’s lonely at the top. We all know that. The widely accepted lament of the business leader is used almost to the point where its significance has been lost: but not by The Right Honourable Michael Portillo. Eloquently he reminded us of this at the Chamber Dinner in May. Yes it’s lonely, but more importantly, the nature of that loneliness can lead to unnecessary and costly mistakes being made.
Citing both Thatcher’s and Brown’s strategic decision making errors past and present, Michael Portillo emphasized the point that in that place of isolation, leaders can lose touch with reality, become misguided as to the feelings of their people, and as a result, make costly and potentially cataclysmic errors of judgement. A relatively recent survey reported by the Irish Times in 2007 indicated that up to 70% of business leaders described their role as ‘lonely’. Where at every other level of the organisation employees were able to bounce ideas off each other or turn to a superior, those at the top had potentially no one or nowhere to go with dilemmas and concerns (as Michael was at pains to point out in his speech, your top team can rarely be seen as ‘friends’; at the end of the day they are often gunning for your job!) A third of the respondents in the survey admitted that the associated pressures of that loneliness resulted in them struggling to keep strategic focus. As a result it was deemed crucial to the wellbeing of these business leaders and their businesses that they find ways to alleviate the impact of this loneliness.
What options are available to business leaders? What can be done to reduce the risks?
A local provider of executive support is able to comment: “We can confirm that the problem of ‘loneliness’ is a real issue for senior executives and business owners a like: for anyone who is effectively at the top of the tree. What they are looking for is something akin to the ‘ultimate professional friend’. Someone who they can say anything to, knowing they won’t be judged, knowing that this person isn’t part of the business and that they have no other agenda other than to be there for them” said Amanda Larcombe, Co-Director of Optima Workplace Ltd. “They are looking for a totally confidential space where they can bounce ideas around and talk through professional, business and sometimes personal dilemmas. This sort of support can be accessed in two ways: by engaging the services of a coach who specializes in providing support to senior executives or a therapist (counsellor) trained in the provision of ‘Consultative Support’ (or ‘Supervision’ in the clinical context). In both instances business leaders need to ensure that when sourcing either that they are professionally trained, are aligned to an appropriate professional body and are highly experienced in working within the business arena.”
So, acknowledging the extraordinarily challenging times that currently face regional businesses, when the number of and pace at which critical decisions are having to be made is likely to have grown significantly, how many business leaders are consciously acknowledging the potential impact that ‘isolation’ is having on them? If they are acknowledging it, how many are acting on this awareness and doing something about it?
|
|
Article Links
 |
