Many CEOs especially women can attest to the loneliness or feelings of isolation once they take on the top job, the reason is not that they don’t have friends, but because they usually have limited time to socialise with friends, another might be because their colleagues or employees withholding sincere feedback.

Though most of the employees do not have the courage to disagree openly with their boss or share their concerns about the CEO decisions, or negative feedback with the boss.

We have highlighted a few things women CEOs can do to counter any feelings of isolation and loneliness that result from your level of responsibility:

𝐏𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞

The best thing a CEO can do to colleagues/employees is to use empathy to alleviate the tension. When interacting with your colleagues, you can say “oh! I know it’s not easy to come to me with a problem” saying this will certainly let the employee know that you sense their feelings and that you have passed through a similar situation. Using their names too can be a simple style, integrating someone’s name into a conversation let them know that you’re aware of who they are.

𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧-𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲

According to the open-door policy, the doors of your office must be open for the employees to have easy access in case of objections. Healthy communication with the employees is essential for a positive atmosphere at the workplace and it also leaves no room for confusion while the employees directly interact with you. We should make sure the employees are free to share their ideas and gain from their talent.

𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤

We know free speech at the workplace is a sensitive approach, it isn’t uncomplicated, in fact, it can cause an issue for both employers and employees. The truth is that what your company decides to authorize or prohibit will be established on the practice that exists or that you want to foster.

We should be the leader that encourages employees to express their ideas however if we want people to step forward and say what they think, it can’t be authorised for some areas and excluded some others. For example, an employer should not seek the employee’s opinion regarding the new product and silent their opinion on the new recruits.

𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚

Though it’s a different form of socializing and it can’t replace talking to someone in person, it isn’t completely bad. Technology has developed with momentum in the last few years. Along with growing technology, social media has reached its climax. With the use of social media, we can connect with others who are far away.

Social media affords the CEOs a safe haven by socialising with their immediate family and work colleagues. It has granted us the ultimate opportunity to interact with different people in the world. With the use of social media, we can also get some firsthand information.