JUSTIN LANGER: Donald Trump-Volodymyr Zelensky Oval Office meeting shows stress leaders under

Do you ever wake up in the morning and still feel tired?

Insomniacs, mothers of babies or sleepless children, may read this question, share a defeated smile and answer: “What do you reckon, I feel like that every day.”

For those people, I feel your pain.

For others, sleep deprivation and mental fatigue can also be the silent battlefield of leadership — where every decision carries the weight of unseen consequences and a myriad of possible pathways that may be taken.

The human brain, remarkable as it is, wasn’t designed for the relentless decision-making demanded by modern leadership.

Each choice is like solving a multi-dimensional puzzle while riding a rollercoaster. What seems simple on the surface is rarely that. It’s rather a complex process of weighing up options and negotiating the best outcomes.

Business leaders, heads of schools or governments, coaches and teachers, editors of newspapers or those in the law, often talk of waking up in the middle of the night, only to be greeted by a mind running like a rabid river.

The cycle of sleep deprivation does nothing for your sharpness of thinking when you get to work the next day.

Imagine being in the shoes of leaders who have the eyes of the world, or a nation, on them.

The scrutiny and psychological pressure accompanying the responsibility of high-stakes decision-making is immense.

Take a couple of examples this week.

President Volodymyr Zelensky sat in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance. The whole world watched on, or at least, saw the final interaction of the 40-minute meeting between the two Presidents.

Some reacted with disdain and disgust, others with admiration and relief; I guess it depends on what side of politics one supports.

Social media around the world lit up. No surprise.

But here’s the thing. Regardless of your own personal view, this column is not about that moment — or for that matter, any of the hundreds of well-publicised global and national battlefields — but rather the extraordinary pressure decision-makers must absorb to arrive at an outcome.

Criticising leaders is easy, but for one second, I wonder if we ever think what it is like to walk in their shoes?

The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a frightening, decision-making game now involving the entire world. The problem is, it’s not a game. People live and die by these decisions, families are destroyed, as are countries. Tensions quickly escalate.

Sadly, there are presently many wars being fought in our world today.

McLachlan made the decision based on when he believed to be right at that very moment. No wonder there were dark rings under his eyes.

President Zelensky’s leadership throughout has demonstrated how decisions can transcend traditional strategic calculations.

His choice to remain in Kyiv during the initial Russian invasion was a profound leadership decision that transformed geopolitical narrative. His determination is courageous and proud.

On the other hand, America’s dilemma is no different as they weigh up the interests of their country within the tricky web of international security. They are one of the middle people, who aren’t even fighting the war.

Every political leader around the world faces complexities so extreme that I can only wonder how they sleep at night.

At their level, it must feel like they are on an endless treadmill, where the only respite is falling off, pressing stop, or negotiating a period where they can at least walk for a moment. It must be exhausting and yet they cop so much intense criticism.

Where war is not a game, our codes of football are, and this week, the leaders of the AFL and the NRL decided to cancel their games in Brisbane due to the threat of the cyclones.

Even the thought of using the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the same paragraph as the start of a football season sounds ludicrous, and yet the process of finding the best outcome would have felt tough inside those tents.

On the surface, both codes made exactly the right call to postpone or shift their games. It makes sense and yet they were simultaneously considering multiple stakeholders in their decisions, while balancing diverse expectations.

This would have been mentally taxing, but it must have felt like child’s play when they looked back at their lessons from COVID.

Back then, when the invisible enemy arrived on Australian shores in early 2020, these same two sporting administrations faced an existential threat. The rules of engagement had to be re-written.

I will never forget the meeting of the West Coast Eagles board the day before the AFL’s decision was announced. My jaw balanced on the table as it was explained to us the ramifications of cancelling the AFL.

CEO Gillon McLachlan would have been gazing at spreadsheets bleeding red. Economics and the weight of 150 years of tradition pressed upon his shoulders as he made the call after just one round: “We must pause.”

And pause they did for 11 weeks.

Right call, wrong call? Who will ever know, but with everything he had at his disposal McLachlan made the decision based on when he believed to be right at that very moment. No wonder there were dark rings under his eyes.

In Sydney, Peter V’landys stood defiant. The NRL chairman, never one to concede ground easily, saw the same storm but charted a bolder course. “Two weeks,” he proclaimed to sceptical journalists. “The game must go on”.

And it did, acting as a light for many. Who was right, who was wrong? Both leaders navigated a labyrinth of competing interests.

As others were forced to do at the time: State Premiers with different political calculus. Broadcasters with contracts worth hundreds of millions. Players torn between pay cheques and family safety. Club doctors questioning protocols. Fans demanding entertainment, while locked in their isolated homes.

In this crucible of crisis, both codes ultimately survived, while proving difficult decisions when balancing heritage, commerce and expectation are far from easy.

At that time, Mark McGowan, as Premier of Western Australia, took a distinctive approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic, implementing some of the world’s strictest border controls.

His decision to effectively isolate WA from the rest of the country, and world, became his signature policy during the crisis.

McGowan’s “hard border” strategy aimed to keep us safe. This approach proved effective in maintaining near-normal conditions within our state while other regions faced lockdowns and outbreaks.

Despite all these controversies, McGowan remained steadfast.

I can’t ever remember a more popular politician, nationally or globally. I think that was because he was willing to stand up and make a call, knowing that if you try and please everyone, you ultimately please no one. That’s what great leaders do.

Which State, or which country was right or wrong in their decision-making?

Everyone will have a view on that, remembering that it’s easy to have an opinion when you are not in the hot seat, and where the clock feels like it is moving like a runaway train for those charged with the responsibility of making the call.

During a conversation this week with an esteemed business leader I asked them about their decision-making processes. Their answer was interesting.

“If you have 10 decisions in front of you, and you make none, you have got 100 per cent wrong. But if you make 10 decisions and get eight right and two wrong, you still have an 80 per cent success rate.”

Leaders understand they are going to make mistakes. The best, admit to these and apologize for them. But they also recognise that their responsibility is to weigh up all the information and make a call, even if it means putting their neck on the line and at times getting it wrong.

The weight of choices is always heavy. But for those who can bear it with grace, wisdom, and a touch of human vulnerability, it becomes the most profound privilege imaginable

The most extraordinary leaders transform the burden of decision-making into an art form. They don’t just make decisions; they create narratives of possibility. They understand that leadership is less about having all the answers and more about maintaining the courage to ask profound questions before making a call.

They also recognize and embrace the need to keep things in perspective, trust other’s counsel and take care of themselves physically and mentally.

Easier said than done, but thank goodness for that, I will sleep better tonight.