Statistically, men still occupy more executive leadership and management positions in companies around the world. That means they, with all their male foibles, greatly influence the way companies are run.

Which raises a couple of interesting points.

For one, while men have been quick to blame women’s mood fluctuations and behaviour on “hormones”, they’re not entirely innocent of the “hormones” accusation they level at women. Few people outside of the medical profession realise the role that testosterone plays in male mood and behaviour.

The general public seems to think that men’s testosterone levels simply make them competitive or not, and that’s it, but that’s only a portion of the truth.

Men’s testosterone levels play a critically important role in influencing their behaviour and performance at work, and understanding exactly how they do this will help both men and women understand something of men’s behaviour both in and outside the workplace and accordingly manage them more effectively.

As with all blood tests, there is a normal range for testosterone levels (for both men and women – yes, women also have testosterone but at much lower levels than men). While a man’s testosterone levels are in the normal range, he’s usually a pleasant, amiable person but, like any other levels in the blood, when things are out of kilter … things start to go wrong.

On the one hand, low testosterone levels can result in a number of symptoms. Those symptoms that can affect a man’s performance in the boardroom (there are indeed symptoms that affect him in the bedroom, but I’ll leave that for another day) include hot flashes (believe it or not), sleep disruption, depressed mood, difficulties with concentration and memory, Increased body fat, decrease in muscle strength and mass, and decrease in endurance.

As you will gather, most of these can and do affect a man’s ability to perform in his job.

We generally tend to think that healthy testosterone levels make men competitive and productive, but high testosterone levels are a problem for a whole set of different reasons.

Generally, high testosterone can result in acne, headaches, heart or liver problems, high blood pressure, insomnia, mood swings, excessive body hair, increased appetite, infertility, low sperm count, prostate enlargement, which may cause difficulty passing urine, swelling of the legs and feet, and unexplained weight gain. Now these don’t all necessarily affect their work performance but there are symptoms that do.

Such symptoms include aggressive or risk-taking behaviours and a high sex drive (which could lead to sexual harassment). High testosterone levels could therefore lead to what is known as toxic masculinity, which could lead to all sorts of issues at work.

Men, therefore, are indeed influenced by their testosterone levels. And as they age, their testosterone levels naturally decline, resulting in a number of the previously mentioned issues and conditions that come with low testosterone levels.

One symptom of low testosterone is a condition called “Grumpy Old Man” syndrome, where a man prefers to avoid social interaction with others. As you will agree, this is not good for a male in a leadership position as he will tend to avoid communicating with those who report to him.

The good news is that men with low testosterone levels are not trapped in a prison with no help. If their doctor has tested their testosterone levels and found them to be low, they can prescribe testosterone replacement therapy in the form of a cream which can raise their testosterone levels into the normal range and enable them to perform as they should.

It’s a tragedy that many men would rather die than visit a doctor. I call that a tragedy because many of the conditions that ail them could easily be addressed with the right medical care.

So, gentlemen, if you want to be an effective leader, get your testosterone levels checked!

Alan Hosking is the Publisher of HR Future magazine, www.hrfuture.net and @HRFuturemag. He is an internationally recognised authority on leadership competencies for the future and teaches experienced and younger business leaders how to lead with empathy, compassion, integrity, purpose and agility. He has been an Age Management Coach for two decades.