ServiceNow's CFO: 14-Hour Days Set a 'Terrible Example'

ServiceNow's president and CFO Gina Mastantuono calls the corporate badge of honor — 14-hour days on four hours of sleep — "such a terrible example for the people around us." She made the comments at a Fortune event earlier this month in Santa Barbara, California, sitting alongside Olympic champion Janet Evans and Deloitte's U.S. sports chief commercial officer and women's sports leader Alicia Hatch.

Her target is a stubborn mindset that still runs through the executive suite: the more you work, the more committed you look. Mastantuono, who helps steer a Fortune 500 software company with a market capitalization of $157 billion, says that logic fails a basic test. What reads as an impressive work ethic from the top reads very differently from below.

Employees don't necessarily see dedication. They see an implied, unwritten expectation to adopt the same unhealthy practices themselves.

What does she propose instead?

Borrow the playbook of elite athletes. "There's always been this idea that if you have to work 14-hour days and get four hours of sleep, that shows you're working the hardest and deserve the most," Mastantuono said. "That is such a terrible example for the people around us."

Her core argument: performing at a high level means making time for recovery, not just pushing harder. The same principle that governs physical training carries into the office. Recovery is part of the work of performing well, not something you squeeze in after the hard work ends. Workers all the way up to the C-suite have to balance intensity with time to recharge.

Mastantuono said she has championed fitness as a way to support both personal health and effective leadership, and the shift has changed how she works and leads. She has achieved a healthier balance between her job and her personal life, become a more attentive listener, and stays calm under pressure. Her team benefits from that steadier approach too.

"When we do focus on taking care of ourselves, then we are much better bosses, much better colleagues, much better parents," she said.

What does the sports angle add?

The parallels between athletics and leadership don't stop at recovery. Athletes also practice making tough calls in real time and adjusting to unexpected situations — a skill set that maps directly onto executive decision-making.

Hatch asked the audience to consider how often they make consequential decisions without all the facts and with "a lot of people watching." "We face this every single day," she said.

She pointed to a striking data point: 94% of female C-suite executives played sports growing up. "There's a reason for that," she said. In her view, playing sports provides a rehearsal for the demands of leadership and hones the ability to decide under pressure.

Sports are "an amazing simulator" for "performing continuously, even with changing circumstances," Hatch said.

Evans, the Olympic champion on the panel, added another dimension: athletes learn to stay committed to a goal without getting locked into a single way of reaching it. That adaptability, paired with a willingness to take risks and push through setbacks, prepares them to pursue ambitious goals as leaders, she said.

Why it matters now

Mastantuono's message lands at a moment when the hours-worked-equals-commitment equation still shapes promotion cultures, especially in finance and tech. A CFO at a $157 billion company saying the quiet part out loud — that exhaustion leadership sets the tone for everyone below — gives practitioners explicit cover to build recovery into performance rather than treat it as a personal indulgence.

For finance leaders, the practical takeaway is straightforward: model the habits you actually want your team to adopt, because they will read your calendar and your sleep schedule whether you say anything or not.