In business, health, like lunch, is for wimps.

No one is going to allow a mere head cold or mild bout of flu to stop them getting on with their work. According to a survey by the UK’s Chartered Management Institute, one in three managers is afraid to take time off when ill. If you’ve got backache, take some pills. Strong coffee can deal with any lack of sleep. For those who want them, or need them, stronger drugs will always be available. Then there is “all that stress” endured by those at the top. Except, of course, that this is to misunderstand (in more ways then one) what really happens at different levels within businesses and organisations.

Successful people welcome the pressure that comes with greater responsibility. They have got to the top precisely because they have a higher pain threshold than others. This is what the sports psychologists call “mental toughness” - the ability to keep going even when it might seem more sensible to stop. The dirty little secret of leadership is that it is not nearly as stressful as being a subordinate. Lack of autonomy and control over your work - now, that is stressful. Boring, repetitive tasks and being excluded from the really interesting networks - this is what makes working life unpleasant and potentially damaging to health.

As the pace of business speeds up, these pressures can only rise. Working days get longer and ever more gets packed in. Admired leaders are often praised by their colleagues for “always having time” for people. But how many direct reports can you really pay attention to at any one time? If you are running a global division, teams will want to see you in the flesh. You can expect to have to live with almost permanent jet lag.

Losing sleep over all this will only make things worse. Irregular sleep patterns boost adrenaline levels, causing blood pressure to rise - which is a big risk factor for heart attacks. But who would ever interrupt a key meeting to request time out for a lie-down, or even a “power nap”? It is not going to happen.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 at 4:32 pm and is filed under Business, Business Psychology, Entrepreneurs, My Life At Work, News, People, Studies and Surveys, That's Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.