Why is it lonely at the top?

<p>As satisfying as professional success can be, it can also come with great personal challenges. If you’re at the top, the people around you might think that you’re some kind of guru who has it all figured out. If you show vulnerability, they might become scared or worried about the future. That makes it hard to know when it is safe to be emotionally honest.</p> <p> </p> <p>My guests on this edition of Quick Hits have all known great success in their careers. We had an honest and illuminating discussion about what it means to be lonely at the top and how to deal with that loneliness.</p> <p> </p> <p>“You get three different types of perception,” offers On Point Partners CEO Gary Fredericks. “The folks below you either think, ‘This person is great and deserve to be where they are.’ Or they think, ‘This person is an idiot and I don’t know how they got there.’ And the people above you are trying to figure out, ‘How do I stop this guy? How do I replace him with one of my own people?’”</p> <p> </p> <p>Transformational Expert Sara Oblak Speicher shares that “I personally found my support system in a very close circle of friends who are also business owners, who also are moms and homemakers and unconventional just like I am. Sometimes it can be kind of a vacuum, but sometimes that little vacuum is what I need to feel safe and supported before going out in the real world again.”</p> <p> </p> <p>And financial futurist Jim Lee says that the loneliness of success can be mitigated when you take a welcoming and collaborative attitude to the people around you. “The key is when you’re working together versus working against. If you embrace other people and bring them up with you, then you’re not going to be alone.”</p> <p> </p> <p>We hear, “It’s lonely at the top” a lot. Why do you think that is?</p> <p> </p> <p>Connect with the panelists: James Lee: <a href='https://www.linkedin.com/in/jleeadvisor/'>https://www.linkedin.com/in/jleeadvisor/</a></p> <p>Sara Oblak Speicher, MBA: <a href='https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraospeicher