The years when leaders are expected to be at their most decisive and visible at work often coincide with the most complicated period of their personal lives.
Careers are peaking, yet children still need us at home, and parents begin needing us in new ways too. It’s a period of time increasingly referred to as the "sandwich years" and, in my experience, it’s where some of the best leaders I know were forged.
Last month the IPA Census 2025 revealed that for the first time, more than 40% of C-suite roles in advertising are held by women (many of whom are still primary carers for both children and elderly parents). It’s an encouraging milestone. But it also got me thinking about the lived experience behind those numbers.
The sandwich years are hard; parenting, parents and a high-pressure professional role, all at the same time. And it’s vital we talk about this, because each of these responsibilities shifts people’s long-term new normal and have a very real, unignorable impact on their working lives.
If this is sounding a bit negative, then let me clarify: my perspective is actually a positive one. I think navigating the sandwich years truly transforms leaders for the better.
If you hadn’t guessed, I am sandwiched myself. Alongside my day job as CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, I have two young children and also spent the past year supporting parents who have increasingly needed more from me.
The role reversal of the latter, as many of those caring for parents will understand, introduces a daily reminder that there are some situations that may only get harder. Run this reality alongside the energising optimism and daily focus on the future that having children brings, and you have a tension that gives us as sandwiched leaders a pretty robust perspective.
It also means we understand that, to juggle effectively, sometimes we have to put ourselves first. To accept that there will be trade-offs across work, caregiving duties and family and to realise that that’s OK.
Because these years, while challenging, imbue us with a heightened awareness of the unseen burdens that everyone carries, at whatever level of the business they sit.
This degree of empathy supercharges our leadership because we tend to adopt what I call an “assume positive intent” mindset. This pushes us to lead with questions like “is everything OK?” before more negatively positioned ones like “why isn’t this ready?”.
Through this, we create more space and support for our colleagues and are able to step into a type of whole-self leadership that is, I believe, the only viable way the industry can be run moving forward.
When we move beyond traditional vulnerability framing towards this modern, whole-self leadership, we create psychologically safer environments and as a consequence, happier workplaces for all our teams. And this isn’t just a nice-to-have - happier people perform better.
I want to also be clear that the lessons from the sandwich years aren’t only relevant to women or working parents (although a lot of leaders are). They also aren’t just about your own parents needing more from you (although a lot of leaders have this too). They’re about recognising that what’s going on outside of work informs who you are within it more than ever.
It also makes it even more essential that we give this period of time a name. And that we talk about them more so that we can live alongside the grief for our old lives and then design for a better present and future.
Because it’s the things we can’t see that power the best leaders, giving them the empathy and ability to work in ways that benefit both them and the organisations they lead. It’s the motivations we can’t see that continue to push these leaders to strive for better, more inclusive and happier workplaces for everyone.
If we give ourselves and those around us the space and security to embrace, rather than hide, this stage of life, we can make the next generation of leaders more effective, more human and, ultimately, more impactful.
Claire Hollands is the chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi.
Source: Campaign UK