Caught Sleeping on the Job?

No, really, he literally went to bed.

On March 21, a fire broke out at an off-site power facility near London’s Heathrow Airport, leading to the cancellation of over 1,300 flights and stranding more than 200,000 travellers.

While chaos unfolded on the ground, CEO Thomas Woldbye — after being briefed and delegating response duties to his COO — decided to call it a night and get some sleep.

Cue outrage. “How can a leader sleep when everything’s on fire?”

Now, I know Heathrow might feel far away, but for many of us in Asia, it’s still a major transit hub. I used to live and study in London myself, and if you’re based in Singapore or anywhere in the region, there’s a good chance you’ve passed through its terminals en route to work trips, family holidays, or study stints abroad.

More importantly, the incident raises questions, not just for Woldbye and his team, but for leaders everywhere — especially here in Asia, where expectations of 24/7 superhero leadership are still very much alive.

Is resting during a crisis a failure of leadership, or a sign of trust in your team?

Does showing up mean being seen, or being effective?

And in an era of always-on performance, is strategic invisibility even an option anymore?

Let’s talk about it.

What happened?

Here’s a quick summary of the Heathrow situation, for those who had not been following the news:

🔶 Who: Thomas Woldbye, CEO of Heathrow Airport, formerly CEO of Copenhagen Airport, where he was lauded for raising passenger levels and guiding the team through the crippling pandemic.

🔶 What: On March 21 2025, a massive power outage caused by a fire at a substation grounded flights at Heathrow and left thousands stranded. While the COO took over operations overnight, Woldbye made the conscious decision to get some rest, so he could be “fresh” for reopening talks in the morning.

🔶 Why it blew up: People felt he abandoned ship. Headlines called out his “absence.” Public sentiment was unforgiving, especially with so many travellers caught in the mess.

🔶 How he responded: Woldbye stood by his decision to be “well rested”, explaining that leaders don’t always need to be physically present to lead, especially when capable teams are in place.

Heathrow said it is conducting internal investigation into the handling of the fire crisis and the airport’s resilience planning, while the UK government has commissioned a review by the National Energy Systems Operator.

Woldbye also acknowledged that “lessons needed to be learned” from the incident.

The visibility trap

For most leaders I work with, visibility is the name of the game — but that gets tricky in a crisis.

Woldbye’s situation is a great reminder that what you do and how you’re perceived aren’t always the same thing. And when you’re not in the room, your systems, team, and communication plan need to speak for you.

Here’s what I took away from the incident:

1. Rest is resistance. Especially in leadership.

There’s a reason pilots, surgeons, and even astronauts have mandatory rest protocols. Fatigue leads to bad judgment. We all know this. So why do we expect leaders to martyr themselves during every emergency?

Woldbye made a call that prioritised strategic endurance over performative leadership. He trusted his COO, set up a response team, and planned for the next day. He didn’t vanish, he just paced himself.

🔶 Takeaway: The true job of a leader isn’t to be everywhere. It’s to ensure things can run without them, and to be ready when their part counts most.

2. Delegate like you mean it.

The real question isn’t “Did the CEO go to bed?” It’s “Did the airport fall apart because he did?”

Spoiler: It didn’t.

Heathrow’s operations continued under his COO. That’s a sign of effective delegation, not negligence.

Contrast that with the kinds of bosses who must be in every group chat, approve every decision, and breathe down everyone’s necks. That’s not leadership — that’s micromanagement.

🔶 Takeaway: You can’t scale leadership if you don’t build trust. Build systems that don’t need your fingerprints to function. Delegation isn’t just a handover: it’s a muscle leaders must build, train, and flex long before a crisis hits.

3. Crisis comms SOPs shouldn’t live in your head.

If your team needs to wake you at 3am to ask, “What now?”, you’ve already failed.

A crisis should trigger a playbook: Who takes over? What’s the chain of command? What happens in hour 1, 2, 12? If your COO steps in, does your comms team know what to say? Does your public know why you're not front and centre?

🔶 Takeaway: Document your fire drills, and rehearse the tough calls before the fire breaks out.

4. If you rest, communicate it.

Anticipate the optics, not just the operations. Leadership is 50% action, 50% perception. People were angry, confused, and looking for a face to blame. You can’t just disappear in the middle of a crisis and assume everyone will understand your strategic brilliance.

A simple update like “Our COO is leading the overnight response. I’ll be back at 6am for reopening ops” could’ve shifted the tone completely. Had Heathrow issued a clear joint statement early — outlining who was in charge, what the plan was, and why the CEO was pacing his involvement — the firestorm might’ve been avoidable.

🔶 Takeaway: Your absence needs a script. Don’t just delegate privately — delegate visibly, and update proactively. And if you’re going to rest, tell people you’re doing it on purpose. Manage the message as tightly as you manage the mission.

💡 The Big Takeaway

Woldbye’s decision to rest during the Heathrow fire sparked debate, but it also opened up an important conversation about what modern leadership really looks like. The kind that invests in strong teams, embraces clear delegation, and resists the pressure to show up with eye bags for the sake of appearances.

Real leadership means designing systems that don’t collapse in your absence, so you can step in when and where you’re most needed.

Personally? I’ll take a calm, rested leader over one running on fumes.

The real lesson here: Build resilient teams. And communicate your strategy clearly — especially when it challenges outdated ideas of what “strong” leadership is supposed to look like.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be taking an ahem, strategic pause to recharge before my next dispatch. 😉

See you in the next edition!

📖 What else I’m reading:

• The road to CEO enters its influencer era. How social media is reshaping leadership — Fortune

• Communication breakdown: The last three months have seen Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto lurching from one crisis to another. — The Jakarta Post

• Paradise and pitfalls: The White Lotus on comms — PR Week

• The Rise of the Corporate Influencer: How to Activate Your Personal Power for Business Success — Shorty Awards