A healthy leader gives you a better chance of building a healthy organization.
Think about everything a CEO or company leader is responsible for. Customers. Employees. Revenue. Profitability. Strategy. Culture. Growth. Problems that no one else knows how to solve. You spend an enormous amount of time making sure everyone—and everything—is taken care of. But here’s a question:
What are you doing to take care of yourself?
I’ve known plenty of successful leaders who would never dream of ignoring an important customer or missing a critical meeting, yet they’ll routinely sleep five hours a night, skip exercise, eat whatever is convenient, and work seven days a week.
Some even wear it as a badge of honor:
- “I only need five hours of sleep.”
- “I’m too busy to work out.”
- “I’ll take a vacation when things slow down.”
But things rarely slow down.
You may be your company’s most important asset. However, what are you doing to protect that asset?
Your Health Isn’t Just Personal
We tend to think about health as something separate from work. I don’t think it is. Consider what leaders do every day. You make difficult decisions. Think strategically. Manage conflict. Listen to people. Solve problems. Respond to crises. Inspire your team. See opportunities others may miss. All of those things require mental and physical energy.
Can you still do your job when you’re exhausted? Of course. But are you doing it as well as you could be? There’s a big difference between functioning and performing at your best.
Start With Sleep
Sleep may be one of the first things busy leaders sacrifice. There’s always one more email to answer, one more presentation to review, one more problem to think about. But being exhausted isn’t evidence that you’re important. Sleep affects your energy, concentration, patience, and ability to think clearly—all things you need to lead effectively.
There are no bonus points for making an important decision on four hours of sleep.
Treat sleep as something that supports your performance rather than something that gets in the way of it.
Move Your Body
Exercise doesn’t mean you need to run a marathon or spend two hours at the gym every morning. Walk. Lift weights. Play golf or pickleball. Ride a bike. Take a fitness class. Do something you enjoy enough that you’ll actually keep doing it. And put it on your calendar.
CEOs don’t “find time” for important board meetings. They schedule them because they’re important. Why should taking care of your body be different? Put it on your schedule.
Think About Your Fuel
Then there’s food. When you’re busy, convenience tends to win. You skip breakfast. Grab something between meetings. Eat lunch at your desk. Not to mention that travel makes everything harder.
I’m not suggesting you need to eat perfectly. I certainly don’t believe perfection is the goal. But pay attention. Are the food choices you’re making most days giving you the energy you need—or taking it away?
You wouldn’t knowingly put bad fuel into an expensive piece of equipment. Why treat your body differently?
Your Team Is Watching You
Here’s where taking care of yourself becomes a leadership issue. Your employees notice what you do.
- If you’re sending emails at 11:30 at night, they may think they’re expected to answer when received.
- If you never take vacation, they may feel uncomfortable taking theirs.
- If you proudly tell everyone you survive on four hours of sleep and haven’t exercised in six months, you’re sending a message about what success looks like in your company.
But imagine the opposite. Your team sees a CEO who exercises regularly, takes vacation, gets enough sleep, makes reasonable food choices, and still performs at a high level.
You’re showing them that ambition and taking care of yourself aren’t mutually exclusive. You’re modeling sustainable performance.
Don’t Wait for the Wake-Up Call
Too many leaders change their habits only when something forces them to.
- A health scare.
- Burnout.
- A doctor’s warning.
- Or simply realizing they don’t have the energy they used to have.
Why wait?
You create contingency plans for your business. You maintain equipment before it breaks. You invest in employees before there’s a crisis.
Maybe you need a preventive-maintenance plan for yourself, too.
Start with three things:
Protect your sleep. Schedule your exercise. Pay attention to what you’re eating.
And remember that your choices don’t affect only you. You’re setting an example for the people around you.
CEOs spend their careers monitoring the health of their companies.
Maybe there’s another KPI worth watching:
How healthy is the person leading it?
Because taking care of yourself isn’t something you do instead of taking care of your company.
It’s one of the ways you take care of your company.
A healthy leader doesn’t guarantee a healthy organization. But it certainly gives you a much better chance of building one.
Onward and Upward,
Karen Caplan
Executive Coaching and Consulting for Business CEOs, Owners and Presidents
