<p>IMA India recently launched its Personal Wellness Survey 2026. The full report, accessible to survey respondents, is available on our newly launched website, which I would urge you to visit. We received meaningful participation from our CEO, CFO and CHRO communities. However, our CMO cohort was, regrettably, less engaged. In its absence, your columnist attempts a few careful extrapolations from the broader data to reflect on what it may imply for marketing leadership today. </p><p>Across roles and industries, similar behavioural traits distinguish leaders who report performing at their best. Sleep and genuine downtime sit high on that list. The data reveals a clear relationship between sleep, energy levels and self-confidence. Leaders who sleep longer, consistently report feeling more energised and more assured in their decisions. Mindfulness, regular exercise and intentional breaks are also common among this group. These are not dramatic interventions, but disciplined habits, the basis of steady judgement. Seventy-one percent of CXOs report sleeping six hours or more, yet nearly half of female respondents and one in fourmales sleep under six hours. A gradient is visible. Among those sleeping seven hours or more, over 40% report consistently high energy levels. As screen time stretches beyond eight to ten hours a day, short sleep becomes less an exception and more the norm.</p><p>For a CMO, this trade-off is not theoretical. Marketing leadership now lives inside dashboards, campaign trackers, social feeds and real-time analytics. The function does not close at 7 pm, as live feeds and digital engagement extend the working day into the evening and often into the night. If 65% of CXOs already spend more than six hours daily on screens, it is reasonable to assume that CMOs occupy the far end of that curve. Computer and phone screes compresses sleep, which grinds down energy. Creativity, clarity and strategic judgement are not abstract virtues, they rest on a clear mind and an able body. Recovery, the data suggests, exists, but only partially. Nearly 80% of CXOs say that a break usually leaves them refreshed. Still, holidaysare rarely work-free. Over half report working at least one Saturday each month and a meaningful proportionmore than that. Even official leave is leaky. Now consider the CMO where marketing is a live-wire function. A campaign can trend in minutes; a reputational crisis can escalate before breakfast. Structurally, the CMO’s role is more reactive than that of most C-suite peers.</p><p>There is also a subtler dimension. In many organisations today, the personal visibility of the CMO isincreasingly fused with the brand itself. She is not merely stewarding reputation; she is often personifying itthrough public forums, LinkedIn commentary and media interactions. CEOs experience similar visibility, admittedly at a broader strategic level, but the CMO’s mandate is singular – reputation. And in an efficiency-driven economy where brand investment must constantly justify itself, scrutiny intensifies.</p><p>If breaks do not fully disconnect, the deeper question is whether cognitive load ever truly resets. A role thatis permanently “on” becomes a role that never rests. For marketing leaders, recovery may require more thanscheduled leave. It may demand deliberate detachment through boundaries that are structural rather thanself-improving. Without that, reputation may never sleep but the individual behind it quietly pays the price</p>
<p>IMA India recently launched its Personal Wellness Survey 2026. The full report, accessible to survey respondents, is available on our newly launched website, which I would urge you to visit. We received meaningful participation from our CEO, CFO and CHRO communities. However, our CMO cohort was, regrettably, less engaged. In its absence, your columnist attempts a few careful extrapolations from the broader data to reflect on what it may imply for marketing leadership today. </p><p>Across roles and industries, similar behavioural traits distinguish leaders who report performing at their best. Sleep and genuine downtime sit high on that list. The data reveals a clear relationship between sleep, energy levels and self-confidence. Leaders who sleep longer, consistently report feeling more energised and more assured in their decisions. Mindfulness, regular exercise and intentional breaks are also common among this group. These are not dramatic interventions, but disciplined habits, the basis of steady judgement. Seventy-one percent of CXOs report sleeping six hours or more, yet nearly half of female respondents and one in fourmales sleep under six hours. A gradient is visible. Among those sleeping seven hours or more, over 40% report consistently high energy levels. As screen time stretches beyond eight to ten hours a day, short sleep becomes less an exception and more the norm.</p><p>For a CMO, this trade-off is not theoretical. Marketing leadership now lives inside dashboards, campaign trackers, social feeds and real-time analytics. The function does not close at 7 pm, as live feeds and digital engagement extend the working day into the evening and often into the night. If 65% of CXOs already spend more than six hours daily on screens, it is reasonable to assume that CMOs occupy the far end of that curve. Computer and phone screes compresses sleep, which grinds down energy. Creativity, clarity and strategic judgement are not abstract virtues, they rest on a clear mind and an able body. Recovery, the data suggests, exists, but only partially. Nearly 80% of CXOs say that a break usually leaves them refreshed. Still, holidaysare rarely work-free. Over half report working at least one Saturday each month and a meaningful proportionmore than that. Even official leave is leaky. Now consider the CMO where marketing is a live-wire function. A campaign can trend in minutes; a reputational crisis can escalate before breakfast. Structurally, the CMO’s role is more reactive than that of most C-suite peers.</p><p>There is also a subtler dimension. In many organisations today, the personal visibility of the CMO isincreasingly fused with the brand itself. She is not merely stewarding reputation; she is often personifying itthrough public forums, LinkedIn commentary and media interactions. CEOs experience similar visibility, admittedly at a broader strategic level, but the CMO’s mandate is singular – reputation. And in an efficiency-driven economy where brand investment must constantly justify itself, scrutiny intensifies.</p><p>If breaks do not fully disconnect, the deeper question is whether cognitive load ever truly resets. A role thatis permanently “on” becomes a role that never rests. For marketing leaders, recovery may require more thanscheduled leave. It may demand deliberate detachment through boundaries that are structural rather thanself-improving. Without that, reputation may never sleep but the individual behind it quietly pays the price</p>
