Sleep for Leaders (snack post)
The Leadership Sleep Problem
On a regular basis, I will be sharing resources to support the care and feeding of those who want to thrive in leadership. The foundation of personal leadership—the capacity of a leader to flourish in leadership by leading oneself—depends upon a healthy body, mind, and soul. Good health depends upon a good night of sleep. At one time or another, sleep is a problem for almost everybody. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 3 Americans don’t get enough sleep. If at least 1 in 3 Americans don’t get enough sleep, I would guess that more than 1 in 2 leaders are sleep deprived. With the long, intense days of work that begin early and end late, travel across time zones over a short number of days, evening events and activities, nonstop mobile communication, and all the burdens and worries associated with leading a large organization it surprises me that any leader can sleep at all. I certainly struggled with this as well. Sleep deprivation erodes the executive function of the brain, and it also erodes an executive’s ability to function.
If you are a leader, I am not telling you anything you don’t already know. As a new senior leader, I struggled to get all of the work done and listened to a lot of bravado from other leaders about their ability to sleep 5 hours per night. I used to think something was wrong with me, but some important research helped me to understand that something was actually wrong with those who promoted sleep deprivation. There is a lot more to say on this topic, but if you are someone who is struggling to lead and get enough sleep I encourage you to start by developing a healthy understanding of the importance of sleep. For a quick online introduction to sleep and related topics, I encourage you to take a look at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and its informative Sleep Education Blog. For a very readable dive into the research on sleep, I highly recommend Dr. Matthew Walker’s book, Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams.
This is just a start, and it does not begin to solve leadership insomnia. I will say more about this topic in future posts and plan to involve some sleep experts in the conversation on the connection between sleep and personal leadership. Until then, please get your minimum 7 hours and if you can’t, read Walker’s great book while you are awake.
Is your sleeplessness signaling the need to retreat, renew, and re-engineer your leadership, or is it time to consider what's next? Contact Michael Le Roy for a free confidential consultation.