One of the great diseases of mankind is loneliness.
I meet many people, whose life is empty, with some few acquaintances, often from work and some family members, who they cannot really communicate with. It seems these people are in many cases, doomed to not much joy or love in their lives.
Some tips for overcoming loneliness, a subject many of us FEAR, yet is not much talked about.
It is most important to take small steps to meet people and make social contact. This maybe scary, but you can do it. Don’t focus on just one person in the beginning.
I talk to the cashiers at the supermarket checkout and with people in the store. Ask questions, be curious, if you ask a question, you usually get an answer. If you have a hobby, walking, movies, reading books, join a class for beginners. Meeting new people is part of our learning. So get involved with other people, they may be shy like you. Step out of isolation. Get to know yourself better, learn to love yourself, you are really a nice person and talk to yourself in the mirror. Say I love you and your name. Do this for 30 days and there will be a new, brighter you.
In the business world, life at the top can also be lonely and a reason people do not want the top job.
This is why the advent of the business coach has become popular. (I personally have difficulty in understanding, how people who have nil or limited business experience, or who have never had leadership experience, can call themselves business coaches, but they do.)
These business coaches, can give an unbiased opinion and they are not emotionally involved in the day to day activities.
They need to be trusted.
CEO’s need to be focused on the organization’s vision, the big picture of future possibilities, they need to focus on the future, because that is where they will spend their lives, in time to come. That is why the decisions they make ‘NOW’ will impact that future. That is why CEO and organizations need to know where they are going. CEO’s need to set the course and steer the ship to it’s planned destination.
Like the captain of a ship, another lonely job. A great way for CEO’s to overcome loneliness is to develop an aligned team.
T = Together
E = Everyone
A = Achieves
M = More
Aligned, means everyone is going in the same direction, they speak a common language.
They work and have developed an environment of cooperation. The organization is flexible in its behavior and not rigid.
They all know where the business is going.
These dynamics create TRUST and this dissipates the loneliness.
So don’t be a lonely leader, be like the person who develops the above organization.
You will have fun, a great deal of satisfaction and achieve some outstanding results.
Brian Martin is a former CEO of Levi’s Asia and Triumph International.