Lonely Days, Lonely Nights: Isolation Affects Work and Home

Gallup's 2026 State of the Global Workplace report, drawing on data from more than 160 countries, found that senior leaders score 10 points higher on loneliness than individual contributors. They also score 7 points higher for daily stress, 12 points for more anger and 11 points for more sadness.

The emotional well-being data goes further: Those same leaders are less likely than employees to report laughing, smiling or experiencing enjoyment on any given workday.

The findings confirm what some of today's most prominent executives have said publicly. Tim Cook, in advice recently delivered to Apple's incoming CEO John Ternus, framed the relational and human dimensions of leadership as more fundamental to long-term success than any product or technology strategy. Airbnb's Brian Chesky, PepsiCo's former CEO Indra Nooyi and UPS CEO Carol Tomé have all described the paradox of running large organizations while feeling isolated at the top.

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