Dr. Vivek Murthy: The Loneliness Epidemic at Work

FranklinCovey On Leadership

FranklinCovey

Business, Management

4.6 • 215 Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2026

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Loneliness is more than a personal struggle—it’s a measurable threat to creativity, productivity, and health. Dr. Vivek Murthy, former U.S. Surgeon General, explains why disconnection erodes workplace performance and why leaders must treat social connection as a strategic priority. Drawing on research and his own experience in public service, Murthy outlines practical ways organizations can foster belonging—from modeling relationship-first leadership to simple, structured storytelling rituals that humanize teams. He also addresses AI companions, youth mental health, and the unintended consequences of social media, challenging leaders to ensure technology augments—not replaces—human relationships. At a time when engagement and retention are at risk, this conversation reframes connection as a leadership imperative. Listen to explore how building community drives both well-being and results. FranklinCovey’s world-class learning solutions—delivered Live-Online, On Demand, or Live In-Person—are designed to build exceptional leadership skills and enrich your culture at every level of your organization. To learn more, email us at info@franklincovey.com, visit franklincovey.com, or call us at: 1-888-868-1776

Transcript

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0:00.0	We have found over the years, in part through research done at Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania,
0:05.0	that when people in an organization feel disconnected from one another,
0:11.0	that that negatively affects their creativity, their productivity, and their engagement in the workplace.
0:18.0	What we further found is that when people are disengaged in the
0:21.9	workplace, that actually affects the people around them negatively. So if you are looking to
0:27.7	enhance creativity and productivity in the workplace, if you want to ultimately do so in a way
0:32.8	that contributes to retention in the workplace, then it's actually incumbent upon you to find ways to foster
0:39.3	social connection in the workplace.
0:45.1	Hello and welcome to Franklin Cubion leadership. I'm your host, Will Hodling.
0:49.9	Today's guest is Dr. Vivek Murthy, a two-time surgeon general who served under both Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
0:57.1	At 37, Dr. Vivek Murthy became the youngest Surgeon General in history when he was nominated in 2014.
1:04.7	Prior to becoming Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy trained at Harvard and Yale and founded Doctors for America.
1:11.1	He's the author of the bestselling book, Together, the healing power of human connection in a
1:15.9	sometimes lonely world. And as Surgeon General, he made loneliness and youth mental health
1:21.0	a national conversation. Dr. Murthy, welcome to Franklin Covey on leadership.
1:25.9	Hey, thanks so much, Will. It's good to be with you. And please call me Vivek. I'm informal. Wonderful. So you have been in the public eye as Surgeon General twice. Why do you feel that it's important right now to be out there speaking to the community in different settings, joining podcasts like this. You're the first surgeon general that
1:44.5	we've had on, I'll say that much. Well, I'm glad to hear that. Hopefully, I won't be the last.
1:48.8	But, you know, when I was in office, I came to understand really just through the conversations
1:54.3	I was having with people all across the country, how deeply people were feeling a sense of
1:59.8	concern about their health and well-being, a sense of
2:02.8	emptiness, a lack of fulfillment. And they wanted better for themselves. They wanted better for their
2:07.7	kids. And I may not be in uniform anymore, but I find that those concerns are still on my mind.
	...

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