Any professional familiar with the transition to, or stability in, leadership roles has likely been told at some point in their career that it’s “lonely at the top.” This adage, often used as a rite of passage when roles that require great responsibility and oversight are taken, has become ingrained in our society. However, with greater research and attention on the profound impact of loneliness on mental health, it is crucial to explore how this narrative shapes the experiences and internal beliefs of our institutional leaders. Does the widespread acceptance of this narrative act as a blind spot that hinders our ability to make decisions and contribute to our overall effectiveness as leaders? More importantly, does it discourage leaders from seeking necessary support to contribute positively to their own mental health and overall success in their roles?
The Risk Management and Well-Being Connection
When we think about risk management in higher education, our thoughts often gravitate towards financial or operational realms and seldom the well-being of leadership. Take for example those overseeing student mental health in higher education—executives, deans, and directors of counseling and health and wellness. Their responsibilities not only involve overseeing student mental health, but they also include managing crises, ensuring campus safety, navigating hospital systems, and supporting front-line clinical staff. Yet, they are rarely asked, “Who is checking in on you?”
One of the greatest challenges these leaders face is being stuck in a reactive cycle of continuously responding to campus mental health issues without the opportunity to step back to address the underlying issues driving the ongoing demand for services. This is particularly challenging with leaders who lack administrative infrastructure in their wellness departments, which is an unfortunate reality for many college campuses.
As these leaders continue to encounter crises, engage in safety planning efforts, respond to the faculty and staff’s concerns for students, and juggle scheduling challenges, their ability to make decisions may become increasingly reactionary and emotionally driven. Over time, this can impact their ability to engage in cross-collaboration, actively listen, and engage in strategic problem-solving, thus intensifying existing feelings of isolation or loneliness.
The weight of their decisions–often time-sensitive and involving multiple stakeholders–can be lonely and overwhelming. The questions become: Does it have to be lonely? What choices do these leaders have in freeing themselves from the narratives accompanying their roles?
“Their responsibilities not only involve overseeing student mental health; they also include managing crises, ensuring campus safety, navigating hospital systems, and supporting front-line clinical staff. Yet, they are rarely asked, ‘Who is checking in on you?’”
- James Geisler
Practical Strategies to Mitigate Mental Health Risk
To reduce risk and to counteract the feelings associated with the “lonely at the top” narrative, higher education leaders can benefit from:
CULTIVATING SOCIAL NETWORKS (in-person or broader, virtual networks) or seeking mentorship opportunities.
CREATING CONSORTIUMS that connect leaders in similar positions to foster environments that promote vulnerability and offer opportunities to seek multiple perspectives.
ENGAGING IN PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT opportunities that focus on topics such as resilience and emotional intelligence.
ASSESSING CURRENT ADMINISTRATIVE INFRASTRUCTURE and identifying how infrastructure changes could promote positive mental health among leaders and, inevitably, future decision-making.
Tools for Decision-Making Under Pressure
In addition, higher education leaders may wonder what tools they can leverage to promote and foster sound decision-making amid times of great pressure and demand. One strategy is to utilize ethical decision-making models that offer structured support during complex experiences. A personal favorite is Forester-Miller and Davis’ (2016)14 ethical decision-making model, which, while targeted toward mental health counselors specifically, can easily be adapted to many leaders in higher education. Additionally, creating open communication with university administration about isolation-driven risks might create not only an awareness of the unique challenges of leaders, but also contribute to a shared experience among others that would warrant more supportive measures, inevitably trickling down to more effective mental health risk management.
BOTTOM LINE
Prioritizing ourselves as leaders is often done outside work hours, yet the strongest feelings of isolation can happen during the workday. Leaders should think critically about ways to invest in their mental health throughout their daily routine to manage stress and create clarity in their ability to make sound decisions. These small efforts accumulate and serve as a buffer to the often unpredictable demands of their jobs. By prioritizing both intentional wellness efforts and utilizing ethical decision-making models, leaders in higher education institutions can begin to mitigate risk and increase institutional resiliency.
Further, when leaders recognize the choices they have in shaping their narratives around loneliness and leadership, they become empowered to take control over their well-being, cultivate relationships and deeper connections, strengthen the quality of their decisions, and create a systems-level change that allows for fulfillment in their work and a stronger foundation for the next generation of leaders.
14 https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/ethics/practioner-39-s-guide-toethical-decision-making.pdf