They had to decide the fate of many people’s careers. There was immense pressure on them from stakeholders and owners. Granted, most are now very wealthy — but they were undoubtedly aged by the job. It changed them.

When I was in finance, I worked alongside a senior VP and sat in on many of the executive meetings, taking notes for my boss. This was not a room full of happy people. When you start making $200K, $300K, and up, you can expect to pay a steep price. It is constantly worrying and emails and people problems.