Leading with heart

What is heart rate variability and how can it guide smarter management and life decisions

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Last week, I watched a CEO in Ortigas break down during our coffee meetingnot from any corporate crisis or market meltdown, but from sheer exhaustion. “I don't understand," he said, stirring his third espresso of the morning. "I'm doing everything right-hitting targets, pushing through 16-hour days, never missing deadlines. So why do I feel like I'm falling apart?

His question struck me because I'd heard variations of it countless times before, from startup founders in BGC to government officials in Malacañang. We've become so good at measuring business performance that we've forgotten to measure our own human performance. That's where heart rate variability-or HRV-comes in, offering a surprisingly intimate window into how stress is actually affecting our bodies.

When your heartbeat tells a story

Most people think a healthy heart beats like a metronome: steady, consistent, and reliable. But here's what fascinates me—a truly healthy heart actually stutters a bit. Those tiny variations between each beat, measured in milliseconds, reveal whether your nervous system is adapting well to stress or getting stuck in permanent overdrive.