The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving · FirmsConsulting.com & StrategyTraining.com

614: Why Executive Leaders Feel Lonely

·56 min·3 clips

Adam says 'lonely at the top' is 'lonelier now' because jobs and companies change faster.

Kris Arova keeps the pace steady. He starts with a plain question about why executive leaders can feel isolated. The guest answers by tracing his path through executive coaching, group work, and the sense that something larger was needed. That background includes training around Positive Intelligence and CTI. It also gave him a rare mix of research language and practitioner credibility. He spent four years running group coaching sessions. Those groups usually held ten to twenty leaders and ran over several months. Across that work, he says he worked with about 500 leaders. The rooms were open, vulnerable, and unusually honest. Out of that experience, the idea for Crew began to take shape. He wanted to preserve the kind of space that helped leaders speak freely. Networking as a solopreneur kept reinforcing the idea. His father eventually joined as co-founder. The partnership mattered because his father had lived a long executive career of his own. He had also just sold his company and understood the value of a safe outlet. The conversation keeps coming back to truth-telling. The guest says the first people you should call are the ones who will tell you the truth. That idea becomes the episode's practical center. Leadership here is not just about authority but about who can keep you honest.

As heard by us

A sober look at executive coaching, safe outlets, and the habits that keep judgment honest.

This episode stays with executive coaching and the need for a safer outlet as responsibility grows. It moves from months of group leadership with 10 or 20 people at a time to a wider point about trust, truth-telling, and carrying those habits into Crew.

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Why you'd press play

You want a clear read on why bigger roles can feel isolating.

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