Executives across the Nordics are sleeping worse than they admit, and the trend is becoming difficult to ignore.

According to the If Insurance Nordic Health Report 2024–2025, 65 percent of Nordic respondents – and 69 percent of Finns – report that stress has disrupted their sleep, making it the most common consequence of rising workplace pressure.¹ Many also say poor sleep is now affecting their ability to perform at work.

For Finnish sleep physician Henri Tuomilehto, who has treated more than 15,000 patients, none of this is surprising. He has watched the trend build for years: leaders convinced they are functioning normally while operating in a state of chronic depletion. “If you are always tired, it is a bit like being half-drunk when you make important decisions.”

Tuomilehto argues that many executives underestimate how quickly poor sleep erodes judgment, leadership presence, and even emotional stability. “The first thing poor sleep hits is behavior. Some people get irritable, others withdraw. If that person happens to be a leader, it shapes the entire workplace.”

The hidden toll of poor sleep on executive cognition

Sleep loss does not just cause fatigue – it degrades the very capabilities leaders rely on. Research shows that sleep deprivation impairs attention, short-term memory, and vigilance.² It also disrupts higher-order decision-making, making people more prone to risky or inconsistent choices.³ Creativity and cognitive flexibility also decline when sleep is restricted.⁴

Tuomilehto sees this play out clinically. “A tired person does not adapt. Even small challenges feel overwhelming. And if you are in a strategic role, losing concentration or creativity is a real problem.”

How to build your sleep protocol

Executives do not need a perfect nightly routine – they need a realistic, science-based protocol that reflects how sleep actually works. Tuomilehto’s guidance, supported by current research, offers a clear and practical framework.

1. Treat sleep as a non-negotiable performance asset
Many leaders still follow the myth of the so-called winner’s hour – waking at 4 or 5 AM to get ahead. Tuomilehto is firm on this: “It makes no sense. If you sleep less than your body needs, you never recover. Fatigue becomes your new normal.” Consistent under-sleeping erodes cognition, judgment, and mood long before leaders notice the decline.

2. Fix your wake-up time
Rhythm is more important than bedtime. Waking at the same time each morning stabilizes the circadian system and allows sleep pressure to build through the day. “I get up sufficiently early to control my evening energy,” Tuomilehto says. It prevents late-night alertness and helps the body recognize when it is time to wind down.

3. Support healthy sleep pressure during the day
Good nights start with good days. Regular meals, hydration, and light activity maintain stable energy. Leaders who skip lunch or grind through long meetings often arrive at evening overstimulated and struggle to fall asleep. Protecting daytime energy protects nighttime recovery.

4. Draw a clear boundary between work and evening
Tuomilehto ends his workday with a family dinner at 8:30 PM – then no emails. That consistent “shutdown signal” reduces cognitive load and gives the brain permission to disengage. Executives who stay mentally “on” until bedtime make it significantly harder for sleep pressure to translate into actual sleep.

5. Use trackers for motivation, not measurement
Wearables monitor movement, heart rate, and temperature, but they do not capture the brain activity that defines real sleep stages. Research confirms they are helpful for habit-building rather than diagnosis.² “People check their score every morning,” Tuomilehto notes, “but your body already tells you how you slept.”

6. Personalize your motivation
Long-term improvement requires a reason beyond ticking off eight hours. Leaders who succeed tie sleep to something meaningful: clearer thinking, better presence, improved resilience. “Motivation must be personal,” Tuomilehto emphasizes. “Otherwise, people quit after two weeks.”

7. Recover strategically
A short nap can restore alertness, but it cannot compensate for chronic restriction. Tuomilehto stresses that rhythm, not occasional rescue, is what restores high performance.

Why sleep matters more for leaders than anyone else

Leaders set the emotional tone of organizations. When exhausted, their judgment narrows, creativity declines, and empathy fades – all consequences well-supported by neuroscience and sleep research.⁵

Tuomilehto puts it plainly: “A good leader is an engine, not the person everyone tiptoes around.” Chronic fatigue reverses that dynamic. When a leader becomes irritable or withdrawn, psychological safety erodes and the tone of the entire organization shifts. And when strategic thinking falters, poor decisions start to cascade through teams and projects.

Better sleep sharpens judgment, steadies mood, and restores the creativity leaders need to navigate uncertainty. In other words, sleep is not indulgence. It is a leadership asset hiding in plain sight.

References

1. If Insurance, Nordic Health Report 2024–2025: Key findings on stress, sleep, and work ability (2025), available at: https://www.if-insurance.com/large-enterprises/insight/key-findings-health-report-2024

2. SleepFoundation, Lack of sleep and cognitive impairment (2024), available at: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-deprivation/lack-of-sleep-and-cognitive-impairment

3. E. Aidman, K. Johnson et al., “Effects of sleep deprivation on executive functioning, cognitive abilities, metacognitive confidence and decision making” (2018), available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328583846

4. Nature Research Intelligence, Sleep deprivation and cognitive performance (2023), available at: https://www.nature.com/research-intelligence

5. Frontiers in Psychiatry (2024), “Altered risk propensity and decision-making following sleep deprivation”, available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1307408/full