02/09/2024

Research Shows Most CEOs Face Exhaustion, Burnout and Even Early Death

However, the average small business owner is happier than the average employee

Maybe it's not such a good thing when the buck stops here. According to The Wall Street Journal, more than 1,900 CEOs left their jobs last year, and a record 19 died in office. Among those who stayed on the job, a Deloitte study found 82 percent have experienced exhaustion indicative of burnout, and 96 percent feel their mental health has declined.

Unfortunately, those short-term findings align with longer-term research. A study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that CEOs who were not protected by state laws from hostile takeovers lived an average of two years less than those who were. CEOs whose companies suffered significant downturns tended to live about two years less than their counterparts. They even look older; CEOs whose industries experienced steep declines in share prices appeared to age a year or more compared to executives whose companies fared better. (Call it the Obama Effect.)

Why? The usual suspects. Long hours, stress, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, and poor eating habits that typically result. The job you strived for may not be good for you. (Or may not, at least in my case, turn out to be what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.)

Please select this link to read the complete article from Inc.