Growing up, my mom was pretty strict about respecting elders and authority. Yet, she was often quick to disabuse me of the idea that, when times get tough, people at the top of the food chain are anything other than human.

While that should be obvious, it’s one of the first things we tend to forget as soon as we get into those leadership positions. When you’re the boss, the people at work often forget it, too. I think many founders prefer it that way. Showing vulnerability is a risk. Feeling inadequate or misunderstood while at the top of your game is a letdown.

It’s lonely at the top sometimes. So that’s what we’re focused on month this month. We like to keep it local around here, but I hope you’ll spend a little extra time checking out what entrepreneurs in Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville have to say about how they deal with the emotional aspects of leadership as they nonetheless get the job done.

I also invite you to ponder some candid comments from our live discussion about what everyone really thinks about founders acting more human. It was pretty fun to hear people getting transparent about transparency.