Welcome to episode 88 of my podcast The Executive Edge with Nick Jonsson.

I invited Nick on to the podcast because of his experience in advising Executives how to handle and avoid loneliness. We began by explaining and defining what we believe it is. Essentially, getting to the top might be the pinnacle of our achievements, but we rarely realise how isolating the experience can be. Especially in his case as he was operating in Singapore.  He didn’t have the language or friends at the time to offset against the newness of the situation.

Nick feels it’s easy to fall in to this trap because of our general desire to seem strong. Many are unwilling to recognise how much help they need.

Why does this matter?

I felt the most important lesson from this chat was the 5 steps Nick outlined. These including the ability, and desire, to be really honest about how you are feeling. In his case, it was this pivotal tipping point that helped turn things around for him. He had become heavyweight, dependent on alcohol, and determined to ‘go it alone’ when what he really needed was support and input.

He puts his recovery down to his 5-step process and has written about this in his bestselling book ‘Executive Loneliness’. It is available on Amazon. Nick has been featured in more than 30 newspapers and magazines including a 4-page feature in the Business Times.  He has also been on TV including Channel News Asia (CNA), and is passionate about bringing the discussion to the forefront.

Nick has worked across Asia, Australia and Europe representing major international firms, and is active in charitable and fundraising organizations to give back and support his local community, along with volunteering and fundraising for the Samaritans (SOS) – a suicide prevention hotline in Singapore.

He won the Entrepreneurs 100 Award 2021: Singapore’s Emerging Entrepreneurs of the year and was also named one of Asia Pacific’s 50 Leading Lights on World Kindness Day 2021.