????普通人難以理解首席執(zhí)行官作出決策背后的原因。回過頭來看，摩根大通（J.P. Morgan）的首席執(zhí)行官杰米?戴蒙似乎應(yīng)該阻止那些最終讓公司損失90億美元的交易活動(dòng)。在旁觀者看來，一切早有先兆。

????魯伯特?默多克似乎同樣犯了很明顯錯(cuò)誤，如果他應(yīng)對(duì)得當(dāng)，也不會(huì)因?yàn)殡娫捀`聽丑聞而深受詬病了。上周四，他的新聞集團(tuán)（News Corp.）不得不宣布將旗下的出版和娛樂業(yè)務(wù)分拆成兩個(gè)公司。

????各種各樣的因素都在影響著財(cái)富500強(qiáng)的頭頭腦腦們，其中一個(gè)因素對(duì)他們的影響最大，而且這個(gè)因素的作用方式不同以往，它就是孤獨(dú)。

????即使他們有時(shí)會(huì)感到孤單，我們也很難去憐憫這些腰纏萬貫的家伙。但首席執(zhí)行官的孤立無助如果處理不當(dāng)就會(huì)引發(fā)危險(xiǎn)的溝通災(zāi)難。一旦首席執(zhí)行官與團(tuán)隊(duì)之間的信任不復(fù)存在，整個(gè)公司的健康都會(huì)受到波及。殷鑒不遠(yuǎn)，看看輝瑞（Pfizer）的董事會(huì)大戰(zhàn)和明富環(huán)球（MF Global）挪用6億美元的投資者資金的故事我們就會(huì)明白。

????這種孤獨(dú)感并不少見，咨詢公司RHR International的董事長兼首席執(zhí)行官托馬斯?薩波里托說：“高處不勝寒不是什么陳腐的概念。我做這行超過30年，和不下200位老總聊過。在我們的私下討論中，多數(shù)人都會(huì)慨嘆孤獨(dú)。”今年6月，RHR International發(fā)布了對(duì)100位首席執(zhí)行官的調(diào)查，其中41%的老總自稱曾感到孤立無援。

????由于外界關(guān)注度的提高，現(xiàn)代的公司老總反而比以往更加感到孤獨(dú)。“最大的差別就是首席執(zhí)行官現(xiàn)在都經(jīng)受著史無前例的審查，”薩波里托說。“方方面面都對(duì)他們吹毛求疵。股東、監(jiān)管者和分析人士都要求提高信息透明度。”

????為了突破這些束縛，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者必須學(xué)會(huì)在紛紛擾擾中發(fā)現(xiàn)和培養(yǎng)真誠的互動(dòng)。雖然大多數(shù)時(shí)候要表現(xiàn)出金剛不壞之身，但CEO們也需要尋覓空間，可以袒露脆弱的一面。

????薩波里托認(rèn)為，接受審視原本就是高管工作的一部分，好的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者早已接受這一事實(shí)。他進(jìn)一步指出：“真正優(yōu)秀的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者還會(huì)創(chuàng)造一種安全的回饋系統(tǒng)和文化。”

????安全回饋的平臺(tái)可以有多種形式。北澤西社區(qū)銀行（North Jersey Community Bank）的創(chuàng)始人和首席執(zhí)行官弗蘭克?索倫蒂諾三世的經(jīng)驗(yàn)是，召開公司各個(gè)級(jí)別代表參與的小組討論會(huì)，讓人們可以大倒苦水，而代表們的確沒讓他失望。

????For a layperson, it's tough to understand why CEOs make the choices they do. It seems clear, in hindsight, that J.P. Morgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon should have put the kibosh on trading practices that could ultimately cost the company $9 billion. To the rest of us, it looks like there were warning signs.

????It also appears obvious to us that Rupert Murdoch could have dodged at least some of the fallout from the phone-hacking scandal if he had a better handle on what was going on at News Corp. (NWS), which announced Thursday that it wouldsplit its publishing and entertainment arms into two companies.

????Certainly, a myriad of factors influence the leaders of Fortune 500 companies. But one factor that can affect people at the top more than others -- and in a different way than ever before -- is isolation.

????Sure, it's hard to pity people with so much money, even if they feel a little lonely every now and then. But isolation, when mishandled, can trigger dangerous communication breakdowns. When CEOs don't trust the team surrounding them, the health of a corporation suffers. Just look at the fallout from board wars at Pfizer or MF Global misplacing some $600 million in its investors' money.

????This sort of isolation is prevalent among CEOs, says Thomas Saporito, chairman and CEO of consulting firm RHR International: "The notion that it's lonely at the top is not just a trite phrase. I've been at this for over 30 years, and I've spoken with 200 plus CEOs -- there are precious few that didn't, in the privacy of our discussions, talk about loneliness."

????This June, RHR International, published a survey of 100 CEOs who reported, among other things, feelings of isolation. Of those surveyed, 41% said they experienced loneliness in their jobs.

????Modern CEOs may feel more isolated than CEOs in the past, in part, because the spotlight is much sharper. For today's leaders, "the biggest difference is that CEOs in this era are undergoing an incredible level of scrutiny," Saporito says. "They're under the gun from just about every which angle. Shareholders, regulators and analysts expect a much greater level of transparency."

????To stay out of the CEO bubble, leaders must learn to spot and cultivate genuine interactions among the deluge. While they may have to appear bulletproof much of the time, they also need to find spaces where they can be fallible.

????Scrutiny is part of the job, says Saporito, and good leaders accept that. Then, he adds, "the really good ones figure out how to create a system and a culture of feedback that is safe."

????That platform for safe feedback can take several forms. Frank Sorrentino III, founder and CEO of North Jersey Community Bank says that he holds focus groups with representatives from every level in the company, where people can air their grievances, and they certainly do.