Let’s talk about sleep.

Wondering what the heck sleep has to do with leadership?

Let us count the ways:

  1. Sleep plays a crucial role in cognitive functioning, including memory, focus, creativity, and problem-solving skills. As a leader, you need to think critically, make sound decisions, and solve complex problems. Lack of sufficient sleep leads to reduced performance, impaired judgment, and compromised decision-making abilities.
  2. Leadership often requires you to manage and regulate emotions within yourself and others. Sleep plays a significant role in emotional regulation by influencing mood, emotional resilience, and stress management. Insufficient sleep leads to increased irritability, mood swings, and emotional instability, which inhibits your interpersonal relationships and team dynamics.
  3. Sleep is essential for overall health and well-being. Chronic sleep deprivation leads to various health issues, including increased risk of chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mental health disorders. As a leader, your health and well-being are critical for long-term leadership effectiveness, including stamina, resilience, and sustained performance. You can’t lead well when you don’t feel well.
  4. As a leader, you serve as a role model for others. By prioritizing and promoting healthy sleep habits, you set the example for others, which leads to improved well-being, productivity, and overall performance for the whole team.
  5. You can’t be an effective leader if you’re burned out. Sleep plays a crucial role in achieving work-life balance by ensuring adequate rest and recovery, which helps you manage your workload, maintain healthy work-life integration, and prevent exhaustion (all of which lead to poor performance).

Now, do you see why sleep is one of the most foundational aspects of healthy leadership?

We bet you get it. So, why do so many of us neglect our sleep anyway?

We invite you to check in with yourself. How much sleep are you getting each night? How restorative is that sleep?

If there’s room for improvement, we’re here to support you. Check out our latest episode of Leading Possibilities, where we explore how our thinking patterns often get in the way of a good night’s sleep, plus we share a few practical ideas for how you can finally get the sleep you need.

We’re wishing you sweet dreams all month long. We can’t wait to see how you level up your leadership presence and performance when you catch more of those zzzzs!

See you in the DOP,