If you want to lead with clarity, patience, and intention, one of the most important leadership decisions you make happens long before your first meeting of the day.
In a culture that glorifies constant hustle, sleep is often viewed as optional; a luxury, a weakness, or something to sacrifice for productivity. But for leaders, sleep isn’t negotiable. The ability to manage emotions, make sound decisions, and create engaged teams is impacted by how well you slept the night before.
The Cost of Poor Sleep for Leaders
Research by Christopher M. Barnes, published in Harvard Business Review, shows that 42% of global leaders get six hours of sleep or less. The research also found that sleep-deprived leaders are more likely to be impatient, irritable, and reactive, and more likely to unintentionally mistreat employees.
Extensive sleep research also confirms that even a single night of poor sleep increases anxiety and emotional reactivity. At the same time, resilience and perspective is reduced.
What does that look like day-to-day? It means it’s harder to stay patient. It’s harder to let things go. And you’re far more likely to react before you’ve considered how you’d like to respond.
Essentially, when leaders lose sleep, teams feel it. Engagement drops. Relationships become strained. Performance declines.
Over time, these small shifts can erode trust and connection, harming leader-follower relationships. As a result, team environments can become more tense or hostile, often without leaders realizing the role fatigue is playing.
Tired Brains Burn Out Faster
Many leaders believe they can “push through” fatigue. But burnout rarely starts at work—it starts at night.
When sleep, especially REM sleep, is cut short, the cognitive and emotional restoration needed to protect against long-term exhaustion is lost. Small issues feel bigger, emotional regulation weakens, and daily tasks feel more draining.
Over time, this ongoing depletion can push leaders toward burnout without them realizing the root cause.
Protect Your Sleep
Getting better sleep doesn’t have to be difficult. Small, consistent habits can help improve sleep quality and, in turn, leadership performance. Start by focusing on where sleep breaks down for you.
If you have trouble falling asleep:
- Reduce caffeine after 1 p.m. and limit alcohol, as they both disrupt REM sleep.
- Minimize screens in the final hours of the day. Blue light signals “wake up” even when you’re trying to wind down.
- Allow an hour of distraction to recuperate from the day and prepare for sleep. Examples could be reading a book, doing crafts, or meditating.
If you have trouble staying asleep:
- Disrupt nighttime rumination. If your mind races, stay in bed and listen to gentle audio such as music, a sleep story, or a low-stimulation podcast.
- Make your bedroom a sleep-only zone. Keep it dark, quiet, and as tech-free as possible to reduce nighttime awakenings.
If you have trouble waking up (or feeling rested):
- Keep a consistent sleep and wake schedule. Aim for 7–9 hours a night, even if you think you need less.
- Get natural light early in the morning to trigger healthy cortisol release.
- Throughout the day, prioritize getting outside and getting as much natural light as possible.
Show Up As the Leader You Want to Be
As Barnes writes, “the quality of your work—and your leadership—inevitably declines when you sleep less.” So, protecting your sleep isn’t indulgent. It’s essential. Even if you don’t always get it right 100% of the time.
When you protect your sleep, you protect yourself. You protect your emotional stability, your judgment, your capacity to stay calm under pressure, and your long-term well-being. And, most importantly, you ensure you can sh
