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Top 10 Things I Know as a CEO About My Peer Community: An Honest, Human Perspective
As CEOs & founders, we often wear many hats, juggle countless tasks, and operate under intense pressure. While leadership is rewarding, it can also come with stress, sacrifice, and emotional vulnerability. Having walked the path myself, I want to share the top 10 things I’ve learned about our peer community, linking these experiences to the human brain and the hormones that drive us.
We Worry About the 3 Bosses: Cash Flow, Growth, and Profit
Cortisol, the "stress hormone," kicks in when we’re managing cash flow—our immediate survival. Oxytocin or dopamine follows as we focus on growth, seeking the highs that come with customer success or innovation. Finally, when we think of profit, serotonin comes into play, bringing a sense of satisfaction and stability. We balance these pressures daily, often without realizing how deeply they’re ingrained in our biology.
First Things on Our Minds: New Customers and Serving the Existing Ones
Every CEO knows the dual challenge: securing new customers while keeping existing ones happy. This constant tug-of-war triggers corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which drives the anticipation and anxiety of what's next. Yet, it’s oxytocin that nurtures our love for our customers, fueling our desire to serve them well and form lasting connections.
We Run on Emotions and Pained Eyelids
Let’s be honest—sleep deprivation is a common experience. Running on minimal rest leads to elevated norepinephrine, intensifying our emotional responses and draining our energy. The lack of REM sleep makes it harder to regulate moods and cope with stress, leaving us operating on pure adrenaline.
Our Meals are Not Our Own
The reality is, we often don’t control our meals—meetings, client lunches, or business dinners dictate what and when we eat. This disrupts our routine and can impact ghrelin (hunger hormone) and leptin (satiety hormone), leading to poor eating habits. We aren’t just nourishing our bodies; we’re fueling relationships and negotiations, often at the expense of our health.
Lack of Structure in Our Days
A day as a CEO is rarely predictable. The uncertainty, rapid decision-making, and constant switching between tasks can cause mental fatigue. This lack of clarity triggers dopamine depletion, making it harder to focus and stay motivated throughout the day.
When We Hit the Bed, We Fight Our Bodies
Sleep should be restorative, but for many CEOs, it’s not. We bring the day’s stress to bed, fighting against our body’s need for rest. Elevated cortisol levels interfere with melatonin production, making it difficult to wind down, even when we’re physically exhausted.
We are Extremely Competitive
Competition drives us forward, but it also spikes dopamine, creating a desire for more achievement, more success, more validation. While this keeps us pushing ahead, it can also be emotionally draining, leaving us chasing that next milestone without taking time to appreciate the present.
We Feel Vulnerable but Can’t Always Share It
One of the greatest burdens of leadership is vulnerability. We feel it deeply but often struggle to share it with peers or colleagues. This can lead to internalized stress, as the amygdala (the brain's fear center) goes into overdrive, perceiving vulnerability as weakness in a competitive world.
We Make Sacrifices, Even When We Don’t Understand Them
As CEOs, we often sacrifice our health, time with family, and personal happiness for the sake of our companies. Sometimes, these sacrifices are so ingrained in our work that we don’t even recognize them. This constant fight-or-flight mode keeps adrenaline high, leading to burnout.
We Get Irritated and Distracted, Often for Unknown Reasons
The constant barrage of decisions, meetings, and crises can leave us impatient, irritated, and distracted. When we don’t take time to reflect or rest, cognitive overload sets in, making it hard to stay calm or focused. These reactions are often subconscious, triggered by overstimulation and the brain's inability to process everything at once.
Why Do We Go Through This?
Why do we subject ourselves to these cycles of stress, exhaustion, and sacrifice? Honestly, we don’t always know. But what I’ve learned through my own experiences and in conversations with fellow CEOs is this: the body and mind are deeply interconnected. Hormones like cortisol, dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin drive much of what we do, how we react, and how we experience life.
When I advise other CEOs, my first questions are always: How are you doing? How is your health? These questions matter more than we realize, because beneath the success and achievements lies a human being whose well-being is often neglected.
If you’re a CEO—or any leader—reading this, know that it's okay to be vulnerable, to acknowledge the impact of stress on your health, and to make self-care a priority. Success cannot happen when your health is on the line. And it’s only by taking care of ourselves that we can give our best — whether it’s to customers, colleagues, or loved ones.
What You Need to Do
Being a CEO isn’t just about leading a company; it’s about navigating emotions, managing stress, and staying in tune with your body’s needs. By understanding the role of hormones and brain functions in our daily lives, we can begin to see that our well-being is just as important as the bottom line. Just as you have a great accountant, lawyer, sales leader, or operations head, do you have your health advisor by your side? Ping me to see how I can help.
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