Business leaders who boast about working 14-hour days while surviving on just 4 hours of sleep are setting a “terrible example” for their employees, according to ServiceNow president and chief financial officer Gina Mastantuono.
“There’s always been this—if you have to work 14-hour days and you get four hours sleep, and that shows that you’re working the hardest and you deserve the most. Hardik Jagda , 35, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Proximity Works, also described a routine inspired by Olympic athletes, balancing focused work with rest and recovery. Jagda’s approach challenges the so-called ‘996’ work culture, which requires employees to work from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week, arguing against measuring productivity simply by the number of hours spent working.
“Recovery is part of the performance; it’s not secondary. Muscle doesn’t grow when we pump out at the gym.
Speaking at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Santa Barbara, California, Mastantuono said some senior executives continue to take pride in working long hours and sleeping less, believing it demonstrates their dedication. And in fact, that is such a terrible example for the people around us,” she said. It grows when we’re sleeping at night and letting the muscles recover,” she said. “When we do focus on taking care of ourselves, then we are much better bosses, much better colleagues, much better parents,” she said. Jagda generally works six days a week, but he said that he does not expect his employees to follow the same schedule.
