UK execs suffer from loneliness

Loneliness is the worst part of the job for a third of the UK's senior business executives, according to new research.

But the main gripe execs have is office politics, with 43 per cent citing this as the worst element of business leadership.

Almost 1,000 CEOs, company directors and senior managers from around the UK were quizzed for the research by consultancy Dynamic Markets for the International Leadership Summit Leaders in London, which takes place later this year.

Liability (nine per cent), responsibility (eight per cent) and criticism (six per cent) also made it onto the top five list.

Gary Fitzgibbon, chartered occupational psychologist and founder of Fitzgibbon Associates, told silicon.com that the loneliness comes with the territory but can be bad for the individual exec's health.

"Loneliness is probably desirable as far as organisational effectiveness is concerned but it can have an undesirable effect on the individual."

Fitzgibbon advised senior execs to develop a strategy for coping with the day to day impact of these negative effects.

"They need to keep their relationships outside of work stable and quickly respond to any changes that arise in those relationships," he said. "Being lonely is very stressful and stress is all about things being out of your control."

Although these issues affect business leaders in all sectors and positions, it is less likely to be acute in IT where there is less people-interaction, according to Fitzgibbon.