People often ask how I balance being a chief executive with raising a family. The truth is, I don't do it alone. My partner chose to be a stay-at-home dad, and that decision is every bit as ambitious as mine to lead a business. Together, we've created a model that works. But it still surprises people, which shows how far we have to go in challenging stereotypes.
This conversation matters more than ever. The UK has achieved remarkable progress in female leadership representation, with 43.4% women now sitting on FTSE 350 boards, the second highest in the G7 after France. Yet only 19 women hold CEO positions across the FTSE 350. The pipeline exists, but structural barriers remain. One of those barriers is the outdated assumption about how successful executives should structure their domestic lives.
Breaking the executive stereotype
Behind every senior executive, you'll usually find a strong support system. For some, it's a partner; for others, it's wider family or community. In my case, it's my partner. He gives me the space to focus on the role of CEO, and in return, I never lose sight of the fact that leadership is as much about what happens at home as in the boardroom.
I've worked with countless senior leaders who quietly admit that their success is only possible because someone at home stepped into a different role. When it's a male leader with a stay-at-home wife, it's seen as normal. When it's the reverse, it's still called unusual. That imbalance is outdated, and we need to call it out.
Consider this: one female CFO I worked with in a heavy industrials business was very open about the fact her husband had stepped back from his corporate career to manage the household. She said it gave her the bandwidth to take on a transformation programme that doubled the size of the company. Without that choice at home, she admitted she couldn't have delivered at that scale.
Compare that to a male CEO in logistics I once worked with who said, without hesitation, that his stay-at-home wife was the reason he could travel constantly and take on global leadership. What struck me was how normalised it was in his case. No one questioned it, no one called it unusual. Compare that to the conversations women leaders have, and you see the imbalance.
The strategic advantage of domestic partnership
True partnership isn't about splitting things 50/50. It's about both parties giving 100% to the roles they've chosen. In our house, that means I run a business, and he runs the household. Neither role is less valuable, and both require resilience, energy and leadership.
The data supports what many executives know intuitively: diverse thinking improves decision-making. This principle applies as much to family structures as it does to boardroom composition. When we challenge traditional models, we often find better solutions.
A female COO in aerospace told me she and her partner had a very deliberate discussion: who wanted to be at home, who wanted to be at work, and who was best placed for each role at that time? They flipped the traditional model, and it worked. She said it gave her team a more human example of leadership, that careers and family structures don't have to follow one template.
This flexibility creates competitive advantages. The UK's voluntary approach to increasing female leadership has proven more effective than quota systems elsewhere. The same principle applies to family structures: flexibility and choice, rather than rigid expectations, seem to drive better outcomes.
Redefining success models
I spend much of my time in industries like aerospace, defence, industrials, energy, infrastructure and logistics. These are some of the most male-dominated sectors out there. If those industries can evolve, so can our assumptions about family life. Both require us to challenge outdated stereotypes and redefine what leadership looks like.
A board director in the energy sector once explained that her mother-in-law became the full-time carer for her children while she stepped into a major executive role. She said people often assumed she must be 'missing out,' but in her eyes, her children had three role models, namely herself, her partner, and their grandmother, all showing different versions of strength.
These examples matter because they're becoming more common, not less. The rise of stay-at-home fathers reflects broader shifts in how we define success and partnership. Yet my view is that our corporate conversations haven't caught up with this reality.
The economic imperative
The government recognises that supporting women into leadership roles unlocks billions in economic growth. However, true transformation requires looking beyond boardroom statistics to the support structures that enable leadership success. Companies that understand this create more inclusive cultures where different family models are celebrated, not questioned.
The knock-on effect is significant. When large companies embrace flexible family structures, small and medium businesses often follow suit. This cultural shift benefits everyone: men who want to be more involved parents, women who want to lead organisations, and businesses that benefit from more diverse perspectives.
The way forward
We need to normalise conversations about the support systems behind successful leaders, regardless of gender. When we stop treating stay-at-home fathers as novelties and male-dominated industries as unchangeable, we create space for more leaders to succeed authentically.
Promoting more women into top jobs is fantastic. But I think the next phase of leadership evolution is about cultures where success looks different for different people. For example, where a CEO can acknowledge their partner's contribution without it seeming unusual, and domestic choices are recognised as strategic decisions enabling professional excellence. As we move closer to gender parity in executive roles, we must also evolve our view of what makes leadership sustainable. The strongest leaders often have the strongest, and increasingly diverse, support systems.
The UK leads in driving women's representation on boards. Now we must also recognise that behind every successful leader is often a significant other, making equally significant choices. It's high time we celebrated both.
