Why Knowing Your Team’s Sleep Chronotype Makes You a Better Leader

This week, I listened to a brilliant episode of Be That Life with Mary Christine, which explored the growing science behind sleep, mental health, and performance. One concept that really stood out was sleep chronotypes—the biological rhythms that dictate when each of us feels most alert, creative, or ready to switch off. It struck a chord with me as a leader: how often do we truly consider this when we’re trying to get the best out of our teams?

We talk a lot about flexibility, inclusion, and well-being—but when was the last time we asked when someone does their best thinking?

Understanding your team’s sleep chronotype is a simple but powerful leadership tool. It’s about recognising that not everyone operates on the same schedule—and more importantly, that pushing everyone to conform to a 9-to-5 rhythm could be holding your team back.

Dr. Michael Breus, better known as The Sleep Doctor, has developed a helpful framework that breaks people into four types:

• Lions (early risers, high energy in the morning)

• Bears (steady energy through the day, aligned with the sun)

• Wolves (night owls, most creative later in the day)

• Dolphins (light sleepers who often do best with shorter, focused bursts of activity)

You can take his free chronotype quiz at thesleepdoctor.com and encourage your team to do the same. The results are often eye-opening.

As a leader, this insight gives you a clear edge. It allows you to:

• Schedule meetings more effectively: Avoid dragging your Wolves into early morning brainstorms or asking Lions to lead at 4pm.

• Design smarter collaboration: Time creative work, deep focus, or decision-making based on when your team is naturally ‘on’.

• Build empathy: Understand why someone might be quiet at 9am or energised at 6pm—it’s not about commitment, it’s biology.

• Promote wellbeing: Reduce stress, improve engagement, and support more sustainable work rhythms.

In my own leadership journey, I’ve found that the more I personalise the way I lead—whether it’s aligning with individual energy rhythms or adapting how we communicate—the stronger the outcomes. People feel valued when you take the time to understand how they operate best. It creates psychological safety, builds trust, and ultimately boosts team performance.

Of course, we’re still operating in busy, global organisations, where not everything can be customised. But even small changes—like shifting high-impact meetings to suit the majority chronotype, or giving Wolves the space to send ideas post-meeting—can have a big effect.

The podcast reminded me that leadership isn’t just about setting strategy. It’s about understanding people—how they think, how they feel, and yes, even how they sleep. Start there, and you’ll not only get better results—you’ll build better teams.