Truth 13. Your health may be compromising your leadership effectiveness

Put yourself in this hypothetical situation for just a minute. You’re considering two excellent candidates for a critical job opening. They’re equally qualified, brilliantly talented. Only here’s the problem: One is in top shape. The other is straining at the buttons. Just the exertion of sitting down causes Candidate 2 to break a sweat.

Come on, tell the truth. You’d pick Candidate 1, wouldn’t you? No one wants to discriminate, of course. But all else being equal, a solid business argument can be made for choosing the seemingly healthier one. You could possibly be wrong, but you might be able to point to lower predicted healthcare costs as a really good reason to be selective about who you bring on to the team.

There’s also the unfortunate possibility that your team will discriminate against a fat new employee. In a study conducted by the University of Manchester and Monash University, Melbourne, researchers found that obese candidates are more likely to be discriminated against in the workplace than their more slender counterparts (in the case of this particular study, themselves after bariatric surgery). From a management perspective, wouldn’t you want to hire the person most likely to hit the ground running (so to speak)—the one who will fit easily into the group?

Leadership potential was one of the selection criteria. And, because you’re a manager, this is where you come in. What if you’re obese yourself? Other unhealthful habits can also diminish your abilities to inspire and lead. Maybe you smoke? Or you come back from lunch with alcohol on your breath? If your employees are likely to give in to their human nature and discriminate against their unhealthy coworkers (even if only just a little bit and they hate themselves while doing it), how effective is their working relationship with, say, you?

If you have been letting yourself go, your people will talk. And they’ll worry. According to a nationwide telephone survey conducted by the management consulting firm Healthy Companies International, 17 percent of the respondents reported that they were “at least somewhat worried” about their boss’s health in the past year. And 4 percent said that they were very worried.

“Everyone’s health is essential to top performance, including the boss’s,” says Stephen Parker, Health Companies International president. “For the entire organization to function well, no one’s physical or emotional fitness can be ignored. With all that companies have to deal with—a fast-changing competitive environment, aggressive sales targets, or maybe a shaky business strategy—it’s disturbing to learn that employees also have to worry about their superior’s health.”

It’s so easy to assume that if no one is saying anything to you, your health issues aren’t obvious. Don’t kid yourself. People have noticed that you’ve put on a few pounds. Or you haven’t been sleeping well. Or you’ve lost muscle tone. Or the color in your skin is off. You notice these things in others. And chances are that you might have mentioned your observations to trusted friends and colleagues, who will look too (now that you mention it) and agree. And speculate. Never harshly judging, of course. Always kind concern. But do you really want your team to be spending their time, energy, and focus talking to each other about what the deal is with you? Or do you want them focusing on their work?

As a leader, you’re modeling more than performance standards for the work put to your team by the corporate objectives your group has agreed to take on. You’re modeling your priorities and self-care behaviors that will show your team that you want them to take care of themselves as well. While some might say that healthful lifestyle habits should be out of your sphere of influence as a manager, Parker disagrees:

You know what that means? Healthful eating at work. Daily exercise. The doctor appointments for checkups, and then the necessary follow-ups. The regular vacations where you can truly clock out and be with your family—a total getaway from work. And you honor the rights of your direct reports to do the same things.

Then one of these days, when people gather to talk about you, it won’t be, “Did you notice those extra pounds?” It will be to tell stories of how you “took one for the team.” By which they’ll be meaning a healthful walk at lunchtime. Not that extra piece of cake.