Lonely at the Top addresses some common issues that Chief Executives face and many fail to recognize. Many of these issues have their origin in the pain of loneliness that the CEO pays as the price for being at the top. This pain is also "the defining characteristic of the rarefied atmosphere of the higher echelons of management. "The emotional distance between the CEO and others in the organization creates a "strategic vacuum". The emotional distance can and must shrink. It is one of the key tasks of the Mentor to facilitate this.