Page 9 - Harvard Business Review, Sep/Oct 2018

MANAGING YOURSELF SLEEP WELL, LEAD BETTER

employees pay close attention to such cues
and adjust their own behavior accordingly.
Specifically, subordinates of leaders who
model and encourage poor sleep habits get
about 25 fewer minutes of nightly rest than
people whose bosses value sleep, and they
report that their slumber is lower in quality.
One additional—perhaps more
powerful—finding from this research
was that leaders’ devaluation of sleep
may also cause followers to behave less
ethically. Bosses who systematically
eschewed rest—in comparison to other
managers—rated their subordinates as less
likely to do the right thing. We suspect this
wasn’t just a matter of the sleep-deprived
leaders’ giving tougher ratings; it’s likely
that employees were actually behaving
in less moral ways as a result of the
workplace environment or their own sleep
deprivation. Indeed, in previous studies,
we’ve shown that lack of sleep is directly
linked to lapses in ethics.

Overlooked Solutions
Fortunately, there are solutions to help
leaders improve the quality and quantity
of their sleep. Many of these are well-
known but underutilized. They include
sticking to a consistent bedtime and
wake-up schedule, avoiding certain
substances too close to bedtime (caffeine
within seven hours, alcohol within three
hours, and nicotine within three or four
hours), and exercising (but not right
before bed). Additionally, relaxation
and mindfulness meditation exercises
help lower anxiety, making it easier to
drift off to sleep.
A new branch of research is beginning
to show how important it is to alter
smartphone behavior too. Melatonin is
a crucial biochemical involved in the
process of falling asleep, and light not practical, you might try glasses that electronic trackers. But beware: Most sleep
(especially blue light from screens) filter out blue light. Some researchers trackers have not gone through rigorous
suppresses its natural production. In have found that these can mitigate the validation for accuracy. (Your Fitbit can do
research focused on middle managers, effect on melatonin production, thus many things, but it is not especially good
Klodiana Lanaj, Russell Johnson, and I helping people fall asleep more easily; at measuring sleep.) Many phone apps
found that time spent using smartphones I’m now in the very early stages of a study in particular make unsupported claims—
after 9 pm came at the expense of sleep, examining how this may improve work for example, that they can track which
which undermined work engagement outcomes as well. stage of sleep you’re in. However, some
the next day. The simple advice is to stop Savvy leaders are also starting to track devices, such as ActiGraph monitors, are
looking at your devices at night. If that’s their sleep, through either diaries or very accurate and can help you determine

142 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2018