Leader's Behaviors and Skills. How does sleep influence?
A Spanish artist, José María Parramón, in a book tells an
anecdote about a great French painter who did not find the proper shade for the
yellow color. This painter went out to the street at noon, with the light at
its maximum intensity and discovered that the perfect shade of the intense
yellow was the violet, the complementary.
Two complementary colors reinforce each other, excite each
other and show at their maximum intensity. The complementary colors allow to
achieve the harmony in the artistic creation since when they are present the
feeling of balance is achieved.
A study by McKinsey & Company in a survey of 189,000
people out of 89 companies around the world found mental skills and abilities
associated with the ability of leaders at the highest level. They also detected
four qualities that are shown by the executives of the companies with the
highest performance for effective leadership; qualities that account for 89% of
the difference between the best organizations and the others.
By analogy with painting, when one wants to exalt or show in
its maximum amplitude a color is placed beside its complementary one. When an
executive wants to highlight or apply at maximum intensity his ability to solve
problems, he must also develop with maximum intensity the creativity, insight
or deep knowledge of the problems and their relationship with the company and
its environment, to create and continuously improve ability to detect and
exploit patterns, trends, predictable orientations in markets, customers,
suppliers and the environment. The more you develop creativity, the better your
problem-solving ability will be because you will have more potential solutions,
you will see beyond the direct solution, you will perceive the related effects
and consequences. Conversely, the better your ability to solve problems, the
greater the incentive to find the means to strengthen your creativity. (The
practice of creative activities such as art and the like, will be natural and
spontaneous). In the same way as in the colors, mental behaviors and abilities
are exalted and mutually reinforcing because they need each other.
The chart shows the other behaviors that show the leaders of
prominent companies, as well as the mental abilities or abilities that are
necessary.
A) Orientation to results. The leader knows what he wants
and how he will achieve it. And he will always have plan B.
B) The ability to see different perspectives. The broad
vision of the business, the world and the possibility to see beyond the
perceptible of the superficial level generates competitive advantages and amplify
the impact of its decisions
C) The ability to pay attention to others. The leader knows
that he only achieves nothing, and therefore, he has the ability to achieve
adherence, commitment, loyalty and total commitment of the collaborators.
So far so good. However, there is an enemy lurking and can
cause the loss, deterioration or alteration of the mental capacities necessary
to exercise the ideal behaviors. If two complementary colors are pleasant to
the visa, two colors that are not produce displeasure, fatigue and neutralize
each other, as can be seen in the previous graph. What creates this situation?
The lack of proper sleep in time and in the conditions in which he sleeps. It
refers naturally to the leader of the organization.
There are many studies on this. The McKinsey link provides a
detailed description of the direct and indirect impact and costs of sleep
deprivation in organizations. Think of the ability to guide organizational
efforts toward results. How could a person who is not asleep, irritable,
emotionally irritable and prone to uncontrolled and unexpected reactions,
without concentration be able to be focused, attentive and connected to the
situation?
According to the WHO, the smaller amount and amount of
sleep, among other things, produces less concentration, memory problems, which
makes learning and retention of concepts difficult. It is a big mistake to
believe that by being the CEO, you can make correct decisions by sleeping less
because you know the problems, you have the data and information, the factors
and resources, the mental clarity and the necessary skill to act according to
the circumstances. It is true until you begin to lose all of the above when the
lack of sleep begins to act in a silent and unstoppable.
Advice. Be more prudent and ready, seek advice and delegate
responsibility to third parties. You do yours and others cooperate with you.
Synergy and happy dream.
References
14 efectos de no dormir lo suficiente, 12 marzo 2014
Decoding leadership: What really matters McKinsey Quarterly, January
2015. Claudio Feser, Fernanda Mayol, and Ramesh Srinivasan
The organizational cost of insufficient sleep, By Nick van Dam and Els
van der Helm
