When Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce was last year criticised for taking a holiday during one of Australia’s busiest travel periods, he was miffed. “Why is it relevant what I do in my private life?” Mr Joyce demanded. “I’m not a public figure.”

And yet academics in a burgeoning branch of leadership research would disagree. They are studying the private lives of CEOs to see how seminal events such as divorce, children and health problems affect their risk appetite and decision-making.