Ever since Sarah Wright and I started researching loneliness together about ten years ago, I have asked participants at my leadership conferences “Who here feels lonely sometimes?” at the beginning of a session I teach on how to create a culture of belongingness in organizations. A decade ago, about 15 percent of people would self-consciously raise their hands.

My heart sank a few weeks ago in Amsterdam, where I was teaching a leadership program to 53 nonprofit leaders, when ninety percent of hands were raised in response to this question.

Is this because we are lonelier, or because loneliness has become less stigmatized? Clearly, loneliness is skyrocketing: 58 percent of Americans are lonely post-pandemic and Ministers for Loneliness have been appointed in the UK (on the heels of a study that found that British children spend less time outside than prison inmates) and Japan. Likely, it is both.

One thing is clear: social change leaders are suffering. In some nonprofit organizations, board members volunteer their time but are........

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