CEOs Feeling Pinch of Success Trap

According to a recent survey by Burson-Marsteller, chief executive officers are unhappy. In fact, three out of four CEOs have contemplated quitting their jobs. Of the 369 CEOs participating in the study, 73 percent answered yes to the question, "Do you think about quitting your job?" Reasons given for this dissatisfaction are all stress-related.

This startling revelation is supported by the findings detailed by negotiation expert Ed Brodow in his new book Beating the Success Trap. Brodow describes how we have been brainwashed to acquire all the material trappings of success, including high-powered jobs, big homes, and fast cars. Then we wake up one day in middle age and experience one of two reactions: "I have all this stuff, but I don't feel successful" or "I don't feel successful because I don't have all this stuff." Either way, says Brodow, the "success trap" leaves us feeling alienated, unfulfilled, betrayed…and depressed.

"CEOs represent a classic example of people who have bought into the success trap," says Brodow, "only to find a big let-down at the end of the road." Using his own experiences and those of friends and colleagues as examples, he provides a step-by-step method for how you can take control of your destiny by challenging traditional notions of success. Brodow explains:

• Why so many successful people are miserable
• How different generations are affected by the success trap
• How 9/11 has changed society's perception of success
• Why being laid off or fired can be the best thing that ever happened to you
• How you can create a personal definition of success

Brodow is a personal testament to escaping the clutches of the success trap. He was once a highly-paid sales manager for a major computer manufacturer when he asked himself a defining question: "What if your doctor told you that you have only six months to live? How would you want to spend that time?" He realized that he was fed up with the rat race and created his own definition of success: "Right here, right now, you spend your time doing what is meaningful to you." Quitting his button-down, corporate job, he became a movie and television actor, and then a motivational speaker, and has never looked back. Memo to CEOs: Read BEATING THE SUCCESS TRAP before it is too late!

Ed Brodow is a motivational speaker, negotiation expert, and author of Beating the Success Trap: Negotiating Your Own Path to Success. If you wish to reprint this article in your publication, please contact Ed for permission at ed@brodow.com.