The importance of physical & mental health for top CEO performance w/ Andrew May - EP193

Jun 20, 2023

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Andrew May, a leading Australian performance coach and host of the Performance Intelligence podcast, discusses the relationship between physical & mental fitness and CEO & business performance with show host Gene Tunny and his colleague Tim Hughes. Andrew shares insights into the areas he focuses on when coaching top performers, including CEOs and elite athletes.

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About Andrew May

Andrew May is CEO and founder of StriveStronger, a digital consultancy that partners with organisations to create cultures of wellbeing. He presents inspiring presentations and is recognised as one of the world’s leading performance strategists. Andrew works with a number of elite athletes and is the Mental Skills Coach for the Parramatta Eels National Rugby League Club. Andrew is a former middle-distance runner who was an assistant coach at the Australian Institute of Sport in Tasmania. He has worked with multiple Olympic/international athletes in track and field, tennis, swimming, hockey, netball, basketball and AFL; culminating in working as the Physical Performance Manager for both the NSW and Australian Cricket teams. Andrew has dual degrees in the body and brain – completing a Bachelor of Applied Science in Exercise Physiology (body) and a Masters in Coaching Psychology (brain).

For further information about Andrew, check out his full bio:

https://www.andrewmay.com/about-andrew/

What’s covered in EP193

[00:01:10] Physical and mental fitness in performance.
[00:04:24] Well-being and Performance.
[00:08:21] CEOs and high performance sport.
[00:10:57] Male vulnerability and authenticity.
[00:13:14] Life's purpose and meaning.
[00:16:49] Building sustainable operating rhythms.
[00:19:59] Slow brainwave patterns.
[00:23:00] More on building sustainable operating rhythms.
[00:26:24] Sleep and recovery for CEOs.
[00:30:16] Wearable device metrics.
[00:32:57] Cycling culture and health.
[00:38:29] Longevity through lean muscle.
[00:39:40] Biological age and VO2 max.
[00:43:24] Performance Intelligence Mastermind.
[00:47:26] Work-life balance.
[00:49:46] Managing stress for executives.
[00:53:12] Wearable tech and data analysis.
[00:56:32] ROI.
[01:01:00] CEO Health Coaching Benefits.
[01:04:02] CEOs and Health Performance.

Links relevant to the conversation

Andrew’s podcast:

https://www.andrewmay.com/performance-intelligence-with-andrew-may/

Andrew’s book Match Fit and related online course:

https://www.amazon.com.au/MatchFit-Andrew-May-ebook/dp/B07ND3CNB6

https://www.andrewmay.com/mf8/

Regarding DEXA (dual x-ray absorptiometry) scans:

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/dexa-scan.html

Studies mentioned by Gene in his debrief with Tim at the end of the episode include the following.

Study published in Leadership Quarterly in June 2023 “CEO health”:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2022.101672

Here’s the abstract:

“Using comprehensive data on 28 cohorts in Sweden, we analyze CEO health and its determinants and outcomes. We find CEOs are in much better health than the population and on par with other high-skill professionals. These results apply in particular to mental health and to CEOs of larger companies. We explore three mechanisms that can account for CEOs’ robust health. First, we find health predicts appointment to a CEO position. Second, the CEO position has no discernible impact on the health of its holder. Third, poor health is associated with greater CEO turnover. Here, both contemporaneous health and health at the time of appointment matter. Poor CEO health also predicts poor firm outcomes. We find a statistically significant association between mental health and corporate performance for smaller-firm CEOs, for whom a one standard deviation deterioration in mental health translates into a performance reduction of 6% relative to the mean.”

Leibniz Information Centre for Economics & Centre for Financial Research (CFR), University of Cologne working paper titled “Does CEO fitness matter?”

https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/123715/1/841379122.pdf

Here’s an excerpt from the abstract:

This study provides evidence suggesting that CEOs’ physical fitness has a positive impact on firm value, consistent with the beneficial effects of fitness on, e.g., cognitive functions, stress coping and job performance. For each of the years 2001 to 2011, we define S&P 1500 CEOs as fit if they finish a marathon. CEO fitness is also associated with higher firm profitability and higher M&A announcement returns.

Thanks to Obsidian Productions for mixing the episode and to the show’s sponsor, Gene’s consultancy business www.adepteconomics.com.au.

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