The Hollow Boardroom
When Success Leaves You Empty
It’s strange how a room can feel so full of achievement and so void of meaning at the same time.
Imagine it: polished walnut table, floor-to-ceiling windows glinting with Stockholm’s late-afternoon light. Papers signed. Contracts sealed. Applause still echoing off the walls.
And yet—Gunnar sat alone in the boardroom, staring at the zeroes that should have satisfied him. He had built everything he’d dreamed of. A thriving business. Influence. Respect.
But in that silence, success felt like an echo chamber.
No presence. No life. No purpose that could hold the weight of a human soul.
It’s the same ache many of us carry. You work. You win. You get what you said you wanted. But when the crowd leaves and the adrenaline fades, a question whispers in the dark:
Is this it?
We don’t talk enough about the disillusionment that comes with unchecked ambition. About how the chase for achievement can leave you emptier than you began.
Gunnar Olsen’s story begins not in triumph, but in this hollowness. And maybe that’s where your story begins too.
Because in that emptiness, something holy can happen.
A thought begins to stir. A possibility you never allowed yourself to entertain:
What if your work could be more than a transaction?
What if business could be a place where God’s Presence moves, where purpose isn’t an afterthought but the foundation?
We live in a culture obsessed with the hustle—more hours, more revenue, more recognition. But deep down, we’re haunted by a suspicion: that no amount of striving can fill the space God designed for Himself.
And so the real work begins—not in building bigger, but in asking better questions.
What is the story I’m really living?
What am I building that will outlast me?
Where is God’s Presence in my Monday morning meetings?
If you’re sitting in your own hollow boardroom today, take heart.
That ache is not your enemy. It’s the invitation.
It’s the place where God’s voice breaks through the noise and says:
There is more.
Come find it.
This is how remembering begins.
Not with hype, but with honesty.
Not with denial, but with the courage to admit:
Success without God’s Presence is just a lonely room.
But when He fills that space—everything changes.
Stay with us as we journey deeper into this story. Next time, we’ll look at the cost of conviction—how daring to believe for more will always invite resistance. But first, linger here. Let the emptiness do its work. Let it become holy ground.
By the way, this is a creative retelling and application of a small portion of Gunnar Olson’s story. To purchase a copy of his book, Business Unlimited, contact office@uk.iccc.net or listen to it as an audiobook.