{"id":987,"date":"2026-10-28T05:52:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T05:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drcwtan.com\/?page_id=987"},"modified":"2026-10-28T05:52:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T05:52:05","slug":"can-a-company-be-high-performing-and-sleep-positive","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/drcwtan.com\/?page_id=987","title":{"rendered":"Can a Company Be High-Performing and Sleep-Positive?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2026-10-28T05:51:15.829Z\">October 28, 2026<\/time><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Why sustainable performance begins with protecting human capacity.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Hidden Cost of an Always-On Culture<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is 10:30 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A CEO sends a message requesting an updated financial forecast. Within minutes, several senior managers respond. Soon, their teams are back on their laptops preparing the numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nobody complains. Everyone appears committed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From the outside, this looks like a high-performance organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>But is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In many companies, long working hours are still regarded as a badge of honour. The executive who answers emails at midnight is admired. The manager who works through weekends is praised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Occasionally, such efforts are necessary. A major transaction, an operational crisis or an urgent customer issue may demand exceptional commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But when exceptional effort becomes the everyday expectation, organisations risk confusing <strong>endurance with effectiveness<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>When More Work Does Not Mean Better Performance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sleep is not simply downtime. It supports attention, memory, emotional regulation and other functions essential to effective leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a landmark study, Van Dongen and colleagues (2003) demonstrated that restricting sleep to four or six hours per night over two weeks produced accumulating deficits in cognitive performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More concerning was the finding that participants did not always recognise the extent of their declining performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consider the implications for business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A fatigued executive may overlook an important assumption in an investment proposal. An exhausted manager may respond impatiently to a colleague. A tired team may miss warning signals or make errors that require additional work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These outcomes have multiple possible causes. Sleep deprivation does not automatically explain them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nevertheless, the research raises an important question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Could an organisation be working harder while gradually undermining its ability to perform effectively?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Capability Is Only Half the Equation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Companies invest heavily in developing their people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leadership programmes, executive coaching, professional qualifications and sophisticated technologies are all designed to strengthen capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But what about the capacity to apply those capabilities?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To better understand this relationship, I propose a simple conceptual framework:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Effective Leadership Performance \u2248 Capability \u00d7 Available Capacity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Capability represents what people know and can do\u2014their knowledge, skills and experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Capacity represents the cognitive, emotional and biological resources available to apply those capabilities effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The relationship is conceptual rather than a scientifically validated mathematical formula. Its purpose is to highlight an often-overlooked dimension of performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A highly capable executive may possess excellent strategic judgment, but repeated sleep restriction can compromise some of the cognitive processes needed to exercise that judgment consistently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Capability creates potential. Capacity unlocks it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An organisation that invests in developing exceptional talent while normalising chronic exhaustion may be undermining part of its own investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Does a Sleep-Positive Organisation Look Like?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Being sleep-positive does not mean lowering expectations, avoiding pressure or encouraging employees to work less regardless of business needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It means recognising that recovery is an important consideration in how sustainable performance is achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A sleep-positive organisation might:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Distinguish genuine emergencies from matters that can wait until the next working day.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Manage late-night meetings across time zones more thoughtfully.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Avoid unnecessary expectations of immediate responses outside working hours.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Plan demanding projects with realistic workloads and opportunities for recovery.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recognise results and sound judgment rather than glorifying exhaustion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These are not extraordinary initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They are practical leadership choices that can help reduce avoidable fatigue without compromising ambition or accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Culture Begins at the Top<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many companies have introduced employee wellness programmes, wellbeing talks and health initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These can be valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But imagine a CEO who champions employee wellbeing while routinely sending nonurgent messages at midnight and expecting immediate replies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Which message will employees believe?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The formal wellness policy\u2014or the behaviour of their leader?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Organisational culture is shaped not merely by what leaders say, but by what they repeatedly do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A sleep-positive culture therefore requires more than individual sleep education. It calls for leadership behaviour and organisational practices that make reasonable recovery possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A company cannot consistently promote recovery while rewarding the behaviours that undermine it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Can Recovery Become a Competitive Advantage?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is substantial scientific evidence that insufficient sleep can impair attention and aspects of cognitive performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, demonstrating that sleep deprivation affects human functioning is different from proving that a particular corporate sleep initiative will produce a specific increase in profits or productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The business case should not be exaggerated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A well-rested organisation with a poor strategy will not automatically outperform its competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But companies depend on people to interpret information, solve problems, make decisions, collaborate and execute strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Protecting the capacity required for these activities is therefore a legitimate leadership and organisational consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The opportunity is not that sleep magically creates better companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is that reducing avoidable fatigue may help organisations preserve and apply the capabilities they have already invested so heavily in developing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A New Definition of High Performance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For too long, organisations have associated high performance with how much effort people can sustain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps it is time to broaden that definition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">True high performance should not be measured solely by what people accomplish today, but also by their ability to continue performing effectively tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A high-performing company and a sleep-positive company are not contradictory ideas.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They can\u2014and arguably should\u2014be complementary aspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The question for CEOs and business leaders is no longer simply:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>How much more can we get our people to do?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Are we creating the conditions in which our people can consistently perform at their best?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because sustainable competitive advantage depends not only on developing exceptional capabilities, but also on protecting the human capacity required to use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>References<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Van Dongen, H. P. A., Maislin, G., Mullington, J. M., &amp; Dinges, D. F. (2003). The cumulative cost of additional wakefulness: Dose-response effects on neurobehavioral functions and sleep physiology from chronic sleep restriction and total sleep deprivation. <em>Sleep, 26<\/em>(2), 117\u2013126. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/sleep\/26.2.117\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/sleep\/26.2.117<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Barnes, C. M., Lucianetti, L., Bhave, D. P., &amp; Christian, M. S. (2015). You wouldn&#8217;t like me when I&#8217;m sleepy: Leaders&#8217; sleep, daily abusive supervision, and work unit engagement. <em>Academy of Management Journal, 58<\/em>(5), 1419\u20131437. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5465\/amj.2013.1063\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5465\/amj.2013.1063<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hafner, M., Stepanek, M., Taylor, J., Troxel, W. M., &amp; van Stolk, C. (2016). <em>Why Sleep Matters\u2014The Economic Costs of Insufficient Sleep: A Cross-Country Comparative Analysis.<\/em> RAND Europe.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why sustainable performance begins with protecting human capacity. The Hidden Cost of an Always-On Culture It is 10:30 p.m. A CEO sends a message requesting an updated financial forecast. Within minutes, several senior managers respond. Soon, their teams are back on their laptops preparing the numbers. Nobody complains. Everyone appears committed. From the outside, this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":988,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"order-bump-settings":[],"_wpfnl_thankyou_order_overview":"on","_wpfnl_thankyou_order_details":"on","_wpfnl_thankyou_billing_details":"on","_wpfnl_thankyou_shipping_details":"on","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-987","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drcwtan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drcwtan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drcwtan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drcwtan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drcwtan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/drcwtan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":989,"href":"https:\/\/drcwtan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/987\/revisions\/989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drcwtan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drcwtan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}