‘We’ll sleep when we’re dead’: Do leaders have a toxic relationship with sleep?

A lack of adequate sleep can really destabilise the working routines of organisational leaders, yet leaders are constantly sacrificing their sleep to achieve business outcomes.

A recent HR Leader podcast episode featured Rachel Beard, a sleep wellness manager at AH Beard Sleep Wellness Centre, who shared insights into how leaders can navigate prioritising their sleep while still hitting business targets.

A common trait associated with leadership is putting business and your work first. This can cause an array of issues, but one that is often disregarded is the lack of sleep that can arise. Whether through stress, anxiety, overworking, or burnout, leaders are regularly losing shut-eye, and Beard explains that the long-term consequences can be horrendous.

“I think it’s that old saying, ‘we’ll sleep when we’re dead’, or sleep is for the weak. But sleep is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a necessity. When we look at the long-term impacts of poor sleep quality, we look at them in terms of our productivity and our safety in the workplace, as well as our overall health and wellbeing,” Beard said.

“When we look at our health and wellbeing from an individual standpoint, when we don’t get the sleep we need, we are more susceptible and more likely to develop serious illness and disease. We need a good night’s sleep, in particular, deep sleep. When we get good quality sleep, our bodies naturally flow through different cycles that play an essential role in helping us wake up feeling refreshed.”

Beard gave examples of what stages leaders should be pushing for in terms of their sleep and the overall effect that getting adequate sleep can have on their productivity in the workplace.

“The two stages that are important are deep sleep and dream sleep also known as REM sleep. Deep sleep is most essential for our physical health. During deep sleep, our energy levels are being replenished and our immune system is being reset, making us better protected against developing illness and disease,” Beard said.

“Then, when we look at REM sleep, it’s really important for our brain and our cognitive function. It’s during REM sleep that we process and store new memories and skills, and our emotions are being reset and we get a boost of creativity. It’s really essential to get good quality sleep whether you’re a manager, looking after your team, or if you’re an individual and having to show up at work.”

The intertwinement between health and wellbeing and getting adequate sleep can often be underappreciated, but it’s imperative. As wellbeing becomes a focal point in workplace principles, sleep should be commonly referred to as an essential activity.

“When we look at our health and wellbeing, getting good quality sleep is really important for all those things that I just mentioned. Being better protected from getting sick, helping to minimise absenteeism and presenteeism, which, currently, Australians lose, on average, 7.4 work days annually due to absenteeism and presenteeism. Overall, it’s a two-week loss in productivity per person per year as a result of poor-quality sleep,” Beard said.

“As sleep experts recommend, it’s roughly seven to nine hours of long and uninterrupted good quality sleep. And we know four in 10 Aussies aren’t getting it, and there are lots of things that we can do to help. It’s really important to prioritise sleep over some other things that, unfortunately, we prioritise sometimes.”