Tony Hsieh is Dead and Nobody Knows What to Say
You can tell by the things they are saying. The major outlets talk about his legacy of business successes and huge parties, and his “tragic downfall at the end”. The personal essayists and bloggers are looting that legacy for inspiring leadership quotes. And WaPo is turning him into a cautionary tale for rich people even before his body has gone cold.
On the surface, it looks like nobody wants to understand why Tony Hsieh is dead. I think everybody privately understands anyway. Most just don’t have the right language for it.
I think Tony Hsieh, as a public figure, spent decades trying to tell us something important about himself that nobody wants to hear. It’s something about all of us, especially the “visionaries” and “leaders,” that the postmodern world blinds us to while we drive ourselves insane. Specifically, the lay concept of mental health is incomplete: the differences between how human minds are commonly thought to work, and how they actually work, creates and perpetuates the suffering that makes business, economics, and modern life unbearable to gifted people.
First, Some CYA Maneuvering
Before I dive into this, I need to make two things very clear.
- I am not a licensed mental health professional. I work as a coach for leadership and…
