The CEO Needs To Speak - But Who Will Listen?

Many small business owners find their professional position a lonely one.  

They often don’t want to admit that there’s nobody they can trust to talk to about their businesses, they fear being misunderstood or of the competition hearing about their plans.

They often don’t have anyone to share their concerns with, or to bounce ideas off. 

They don’t feel they can trouble their families (and would the family understand if they did?) and most friends just don’t understand what it’s like running your own business.  

As a result they tend to suffer in silence and many would agree that “it’s lonely at the top”.

And the loneliness felt by Managing Directors, CEOs and Owner/Managers can result in unnecessary and costly mistakes.

 At almost every other level in business there are people to bounce ideas off or a superior to turn to.  But those at the top have nowhere to go.

Even in large companies, fellow directors or senior managers are unlikely to be willing or able to listen objectively; they’ll be too busy protecting their own position or thinking of the consequences for their departments to be able to just listen without the need for intrusive questioning.

Business leaders understand the potential problems involved in talking to colleagues, but they continue to face the dilemma – just who can they talk to?

What’s needed is someone they can say anything to without fear of misinterpretation; someone who isn’t part of the business, or a family member – somebody who will really listen to them without judging or attempting to tell them what to do.

Ideally, the person they turn to for support will have been in business themselves and/or worked at executive level for a number of diverse organisations.   

But such a person must must be trained to listen and keep everything they are told strictly confidential.