Why being ‘lonely at the top’ isn’t good for you, or for business

Our careers, and lives, are a culmination of many choices that when added up over time, create our life’s trajectory. Not many people start out their career planning to make some of the choices and sacrifices they have to achieve success. Often it is only when they get to their desired destination that they look back at what their success has cost. Most often, it’s important relationships. And these are not always easy to restore.

What does success mean to you?

Like skipping to the end of a good book to find out what happens, imagine you are able to fast-forward to the last chapter of your life. Looking back over the course of your existence – the choices you made, your patterns of behavior, the quality of your relationships – would you consider it a success? How would you measure or define it? It’s similar to that rather confronting question posed by former Harvard professor, Clayton Christensen – “how will you measure your life?