‘It is lonely at the top’ ... a phrase that many business coaches here all too often.
It seems that several factors contribute to a Leaders sense of loneliness, including:
- Adversarial Senior Management and Board relationships,
- Competition and limited interaction within the industry,
- and of course ‘the buck stops here’ culture with regard to ‘decision making’.
I want to focus on ‘Leadership style and Organisation culture’ as a specific reason for loneliness and explore the cause and effects that can assist leaders unblock this, and the resulting positive effects on the business. Many Leaders or Senior Managers are the bottleneck for decision making.
In these environments there is often limited empowerment, lack of accountability and a lethargy in general. Why? ... because everyone is waiting for the boss to make a decision. The organisation perceives and feels a limited sense of ‘trust’ and this understandably develops a ‘learned helplessness’.
People develop a fear ‘of being wrong’ and it becomes easier to wait for the bosses decision, which automatically removes the issue of making a mistake. Ironically, it is this specific issue which creates additional Leadership loneliness, resulting in further isolation.
So here is the learning ... A Leader who is able open themselves up to scrutiny and is able to express ‘vulnerability’ to his or her team, directly asking for support, begins to create a culture, where people following the Leaders example, are inspired to help and encouraged to behave in a similar fashion.
This shift in Leadership style will in fact create an environment where business challenges and problems are openly shared. The sense of loneliness is then reduced as basic communication changes, a sense of trust develops and greater collaboration takes place.
Here are a few questions you may want to ponder?
- 1. How open, vulnerable and accountable are you prepared to be?
- 2. What about your Leadership style reaffirms your sense of loneliness?
- 3. What steps could you take to instigate a change in Leadership style?
If you would like to bounce a few ideas around .... call or drop me an email. I’d love to know your experience of managing the ‘loneliness challenge’?
Regards,
Colin
Colin Chodos is the founder of Corporate Connection Strategies (CCS), a consulting group that helps businesses connect with their stakeholders to deliver increased profits and growth.
His lead practice areas include Stakeholder Engagement, Change Management and Business Strategy Development. "I have assisted companies over the last 20 years to successfully achieve significant business outcomes".
Follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter or the CCS website for tips and advice for executive leaders of today.