Centene CEO: My stressful schedule ‘wasn’t actually making me better at my job’—how she avoids burnout today
When Sarah London stepped into the CEO role at Centene in 2022, she became the youngest woman to lead a Fortune 500 company. The transition, she recently shared on CNBC’s “Changemakers and Power Players” podcast with Julia Boorstin, came with significant personal costs.
In her first nine months as CEO, London said work consumed nearly all of her time and energy. She woke at 4 a.m. to review extensive briefing materials, stopped exercising, and rarely saw her children. “Work took precedence over everything else, including my family,” she said.
A simple drive to school became a turning point. London realized it was the first time all year she had taken her children herself. During the ride, one of them remarked that she seemed stressed. That comment made her recognize how visible her strain had become — and served as an early signal that she was burning out.
For London, burnout showed up as a profound loss of energy. She also came to see that her relentless pace wasn’t improving her performance. Instead, it was undermining her effectiveness.
To reset, she enlisted an executive coach to help reassess her priorities and daily structure. The goal was to manage stress more sustainably and show up fully for the demands of her role.
Experts say her experience is common among high achievers. Executive coach Allison Tibbs has noted that many leaders equate overwork — late nights, skipped meals, constant busyness — with productivity. In reality, neglecting self-care can erode performance, creativity, leadership capacity, and relationships.
Similarly, career coach Megan Hellerer advises reviewing one’s calendar to identify commitments that trigger stress or exhaustion and scaling back where possible. Reducing draining obligations creates space for more meaningful work.
For London, recovery meant making certain habits non-negotiable. She prioritizes seven hours of sleep and regular exercise, maintaining strict discipline around her schedule to protect those commitments. Reading fiction — especially mysteries and romance novels — has also become a key outlet. She jokes that her happiness is directly tied to the size of her unread book stack.
While she doesn’t claim to have perfected work-life balance, London now aims to be intentional about sustaining it — recognizing that personal well-being is essential to strong leadership.