Chief executive officer: most coveted position in a company. With their authority, power and salary, CEO positions offer the highest level of prestige. There is a lot of advice out there about how to be a good supervisor, taking employees’ needs into consideration and ensuring workers are happy. But what about keeping CEOs happy?

High positions like the CEO position can be isolating, since most organizations operate like a pyramid, with many subordinates at the bottom and fewer and fewer managers moving upwards in the workplace hierarchy. Being in such a high leadership position breeds loneliness. According a study cited in the Harvard Business Review, half of CEOs reported feelings of loneliness in their roles, and the majority of lonely CEOs believe these feelings have an impact on their performance. This has a clear negative effect on both the CEO and the organization, leading to a lack of motivation towards the job. In many positions of authority, leaders feel a similar distance from their employees.

After being promoted, it is difficult for supervisors to maintain close relationships with their subordinates, because it can result in favouritism or difficulty enforcing discipline. I had a discussion last week with a Residence Advisor who works in Walter Gage, and he told me about the difficulties of being an RA in a suite-style residence. In his position, he was both friends with his suitemates, but also had to enforce residence rules and discipline as their RA. He told me about the difficulty in separating his personal relationships from his job, and this can apply to many leaders in that they wish to be friends with the people that they are leading, but must also draw a line between the personal and the professional.

It is important to address this issue, since it can impact productivity and the work environment. How can leaders combat these feelings in order to perform as best they can at their jobs? One way to deal with loneliness is by having a pair or team of managers, rather than one person who oversees all. For example, when I worked at a law firm as a student intern, the firm was owned and managed by two lawyers. As partners, they could manage employees together and also look to one another for companionship. Another option is working in self-managed teams, so that all team members are on the same level and there are no hierarchal complications.

Companies need to address the emotions of CEOs, because emotion is inevitably a variable that has an impact on the work being done. By providing leaders with companionship, they will come into work with improved attitudes and a stronger work ethic.

_____________________________________________________________________________

References:

Hedges, K. (2012, February 23). Do You Feel Lonely As A Leader? Study Says You’re Not Alone. Retrieved February 05, 2017, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/02/23/if-mark-zuckerberg-is-lonely-heres-my-solution/#1ae5055d26f4

Saporito, T. J. (2012, February 15). It’s Time to Acknowledge CEO Loneliness. Retrieved February 05, 2017, from https://hbr.org/2012/02/its-time-to-acknowledge-ceo-lo