You arrive at work, coffee in hand, ready to tackle the day.
But your manager seems off, curt in meetings, impatient with questions, and unusually sharp in tone.
Before chalking it up to personality, consider this: they might just be sleep-deprived.
Research in organisational behaviour and sleep science suggests that a leader’s sleep quality can significantly shape their behaviour at work – not just their mood, but their decision-making, communication style, and even ethical judgement. And the effects ripple far beyond the manager themselves.
In a multi-day field study tracking supervisors and their teams, researchers found that poor sleep on one night predicted more abusive supervisory behaviour the next day. This wasn’t a fixed trait; the same leaders behaved more positively after better sleep.
The study revealed a clear pattern: when leaders slept poorly, their capacity for self-control dropped. This affected the people around them, leading to more brittle interactions and disengaged teams.
The whole team is affected
This isn’t just about being cranky. Sleep deprivation impairs emotional regulation, reduces patience and increases impulsivity.
Tired managers are more likely to micromanage, react punitively and set an edgy tone, even when their team members are well-rested. These behaviours, in turn, reduce team engagement and discretionary effort. The result is a measurable dip in collective energy and productivity.
Despite the evidence, many organisations still glorify sleep deprivation. Executives who rise at 4am and start working before sunrise are often celebrated as paragons of discipline.
For some, early starts align with their natural circadian rhythms, which regulate our sleep/wake cycle. But for many others, this schedule creates circadian misalignment — a mismatch between biological clocks and social demands — which degrades alertness, mood and long-term health.
Management scholars argue that this culture begins early, in business schools and leadership development programs, where short sleep is normalised as a badge of honour.
But the consequences are serious. Chronic sleep deprivation undermines learning, performance and wellbeing, cultivating leaders who are less resilient, less clear-headed and less engaging at precisely the moments that call for steadiness and persuasion.
Leaders aren’t aware of the value of sleep
Surveys suggest nearly half of leaders report sleep problems, and more than 65% are dissatisfied with how much sleep they get.
Alarmingly, over 40% regularly sleep six hours or less, well below the recommended seven to eight hours for adults. And more than 80% of leaders say that not enough effort was spent to educate them about the importance of sleep.
The short-term effects of sleep deprivation are well known:
- daytime sleepiness
- reduced attention span
- and slower reaction times.
But the long-term consequences are even more concerning. Chronic sleep deprivation increases the risk of depression, addiction, obesity and metabolic disorders. It also impairs self-regulation, making individuals more prone to impulsive behaviours, from unhealthy eating to substance misuse.
For leaders, sleep isn’t just a health issue, it’s a performance issue. Studies show sleep-deprived leaders are less inspiring, less charismatic and, as mentioned earlier, more likely to be abusive towards their teams.
They struggle to manage their emotions, and often are not aware that their hostility stems from poor sleep. This can initiate a downward spiral: negative interactions lead to rumination and stress, which further disrupt sleep, perpetuating the cycle. Even a few nights of poor sleep can damage leader-follower relationships.
And the consequences extend to ethics. Sleep deprivation compromises moral awareness and increases the likelihood of unethical behaviour. One study found a 2.1-hour reduction in sleep led to a 10% decline in moral awareness.
Education can build a healthier workplace
Given the evidence, leadership development programs must take sleep seriously. Career sustainability for leaders means building mental and physical resilience to meet high job demands, and sleep is central to that.
Leaders also play a critical role in modelling healthy behaviours for their teams. By prioritising sleep, they can foster a culture of wellbeing and sustainable performance.
Unfortunately, sleep is still undervalued in many organisations. But that can change. By educating current and future leaders about the science of sleep, organisations can cultivate more effective, ethical and engaging leadership — and healthier workplaces overall.
So next time your manager seems unusually difficult, consider what kind of night they had. A short or restless sleep might be the invisible force shaping today’s workplace dynamics.
- Stefan Volk, Professor of Management, University of Sydney
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
