Intro

This chapter delves into the challenges of executive loneliness, highlighting personal experiences of senior executives dealing with mental health issues. It underscores the importance of vulnerability and support systems for promoting well-being in high-pressure leadership roles.

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Episode notes

“It’s lonely at the top” - this is a comment many business leaders in organisations admit where trusted relationships, can often prove sparse. In sport, for coaches and athletes this can also be the case the higher you go up the success ladder.

These statements inform episode #197 where the author of the book Executive Loneliness, and Co-Founder and Managing Director of the Executives’ Global Network, Singapore, Nick Jonsson tells me about his experiences as well as sharing what he found when he researched this topic for his book. We end up discussing the power of talking about the challenges that you face, the benefits of peer support and how difficult it can be to share your vulnerabilities. In addition self-care and how you can learn to look after yourself better so that your mental and physical health, and in turn your performance levels do not deteriorate are talking points.

Key Learning Points:

Many executives suffer from smiling depression where they put up a beautiful facade of what life really is like. Behind the scenes, it's not the real truth and they're not being their authentic self. This then becomes very tiring and painful.
Some executives often don’t want to bother their boss, HR team or even their partner at home as it is very difficult for them to have these types of conversations discussing emotional issues they may be facing.
Individual and peer support can be very powerful for executives.
The commitment shown by executives, if they are not self-aware, can be harmful to their physical and emotional health, where burnout can become a big factor and unhelpful habits often then creep into our lives.
On a scale of 1-10 how important is self-care to you?

Connect with Nick Jonsson

Executives’ Global Network Website

BOOK: Executive Loneliness

Connect with David Charlton

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

To listen to relevant podcast episodes that link to Mental Health

Ep065: Dr Amy Izycky – Encouraging Mentally Healthy Cultures in Sport

Ep092: Dr James Hegarty – ACT in Sport, Improving Performance through Mindfulness

Ep113: Polly Brennan – The Relationship Between Mental Fitness, Mental Health and Mental Toughness

Ep138: Nick Littlehales – Why do the Mentally Tough see Sleep and Recovery as Important

Ep158: Paul Gorczynski – How to Develop and Implement Mental Health Literacy Strategies