It doesn’t have to stay lonely at the top
One of the members of my CEO group said this to me recently, “I was with some friends who asked how business was going, and I started talking about hiring challenges in relation to growth. Their eyes kind of glazed over. They wanted to hear about the fun parts, the big projects we were working on. I can share things in our group, that the outside world just doesn’t get unless they are running the whole show.”
That’s the thing about being CEO. Your outlets for real feedback are limited. Your friends want to celebrate you more than sit with you in the hard parts. Your team cares, but they hear everything through their own stake in the answer. So you carry it. Because that’s what you do. That’s how you got here. I did this too. I had people who cared. I just didn’t have the right people for this specific kind of weight. I wish I’d known that when I was running a business.
Carrying it alone isn’t strength. It’s just habit. CEOs are so used to figuring it out alone that sometimes all I have to do is get them to say the thing out loud to the group.
I’ve seen it many times. A CEO walks in carrying something they’ve been holding for months. They share it in the room. And something shifts almost immediately. You can see the load lighten. They were heard by people who don’t need it translated. And then they start asking questions, sharing what they’ve done, what worked, what didn’t.
Check all that apply
I have people who support me, but few who can challenge me.
I regularly soften what I am dealing with when people ask how business is going.
My team is part of the problem, so they can’t be objective.
I keep revisiting the same decision without reaching clarity.
I am carrying concerns that no one else knows about.
I spend more time appearing confident than examining what I am uncertain about
You already know how to keep going. The question is, what becomes possible when you stop carrying all of it alone. Let’s talk about what carrying it alone is costing you.
