Harvard and McKinsey say Sleep is Good!

Excellent. I now have a great, scientifically supported excuse for taking a nap.

There’s a Proven Link Between Effective Leadership and Getting Enough Sleep
from Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2016/02/theres-a-proven-link-between-effective-leadership-and-getting-enough-sleep

Nick van Dam is McKinsey’s global chief learning officer, a principal in its Amsterdam office, and a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and Nyenrode Business University. He’s also the author of You! The positive force in change

“In our hyper-connected, 24/7 world, many of us are losing sleep — literally. Our own survey of more than 180 business leaders found that four out of 10 (43%) say they do not get enough sleep at least four nights a week. Such sleep deficiencies can undermine important forms of leadership behavior and eventually hurt financial performance. This article will explore the link between sleep and leadership before discussing solutions that can improve both individual well-being and organizational efficiency and effectiveness.

The link between sleep and organizational leadership

The last part of our brain to evolve was the neocortex, responsible for functions such as sensory perception, motor commands, and language. The frontal part of the neocortex, the prefrontal cortex, directs what psychologists call executive functioning, including all the higher-order cognitive processes, such as problem solving, reasoning, organizing, inhibition, planning, and executing plans. These processes help us get things done.

It’s long been known that all leadership behavior relies on at least one (and often more than one) of these executive functions, and therefore, in particular, on the prefrontal cortex. Neuroscientists know that although other brain areas can co ...