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While success has obvious perks, it sure doesn’t exempt you from the loneliness epidemic . We idealize the hustle to the top, but there’s an unspoken struggle many company leaders grapple with when the view isn’t coupled with feelings of connection and belonging. A 2022 survey from Deloitte found a third of the c-suite feels lonely.

The researchers estimate that a vast majority—70%—of executives consider quitting their jobs in part due to the feeling of loneliness and poor well-being. “CEOs can be constantly surrounded by people and still experience loneliness,” Ryan Jenkins, author of Connectable: How Leaders Can Move Teams From Isolated to All In , tells Fortune in an email interview. After all, the higher you climb the corporate ladder, the more responsibility and stress rests on your shoulders to make decisions as an individual rather than as a team.



Even CEOs of some of the most prestigious companies admit that being in the top seat is an isolating experience. The founder of renowned buy-one-give-one shoes company Toms, Blake Mycoskie, grappled with depression and loneliness amid his company’s major successes. Apple’s Tim Cook said being CEO is a “lonely job,” and Airbnb’s Brian Chesky frequently said that his rise only perpetuated his loneliness.

“I started leading from the front, at the top of the mountain, but then the higher you get to the peak, the fewer people there are with you,” Chesky told Jay Shetty during an episode of On Purpose la.

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