For these lonely CEOs and C-suiters, McBride recommends
that they seek peers and mentors, both inside and outside the
organization. She also suggests philanthropy. “Find a giving
outlet that takes you outside of yourself, and provides a service
for the greater good,” says McBride. On top of the usual warm-
and-fuzzy benefits of giving back, Barrett says this will help the
lonely employee develop new social networks, which improves
their connectedness “more holistically.”
As for how managers should tackle the loneliness of others?
Ozcelik and company are still in the early days of developing
solutions, but do have some guidance. First: Don’t think the
answer is more group lunches or happy hours. “The last thing
you want to do to help lonely employees is to organize more
social functions,” says Ozcelik. “They’ll feel even more misera-
ble.” This goes back to the perception gap Cacioppo discusses,
between the connections they think they should have com-
pared to what they actually feel. Lonely people will think that
everyone is having a great time at the picnic, and they’re not.
Another tempting solution: Stick Lonely Bob with Lonely
Nancy, so that each of them will now have a friend. This is almost
certainly doomed. “If you put two lonely people together, they’re
going to hate each other after a few minutes,” cautions Cacioppo.
One thing that could actually help, as simplistic as this
sounds, is to just be nicer. In the Sacramento workplace ex-
“If you’re a smart manager,
don’t just say, ‘It’s not my
problem, talk to your shrink.’
It’s not a personal problem. It’s
a managerial problem.”
- Hakan Ozcelik,
professor of management, Sacramento State
TH
Y
E
A
R
VERSARY
ANNI
CONGRATULATIONS
ON
25 YEARS OF
MAKING OUR
COMMUNITY SAFER,
BRIGHTER AND
MORE CONNECTED!
April 2019 | comstocksmag.com
39