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The Top Job: What Creative Leaders in Tech Don't Talk About
Sally Grisedale
August 29, 2025
Photo by Ricardo Viana on Unsplash
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Today, in 5 Minutes or Less ⏱️
You'll learn the spoken and unspoken expectations of a top creative leadership role in tech, the personal sacrifices that often come with the job, and the steps to navigate it all with intentionality.
Did You Know 🔎
The most shocking expectation for a top leader isn't the workload; it's the surprising pressure to maintain an "eternal youth" facade. Many leaders find themselves taking extraordinary measures, from cosmetic procedures to rigorous diets and exercise, just to "look the part" and appear to be winning at their job. This can blur the line between professional success and personal identity in an unexpected and unsettling way.
The Numbers Don't Lie 🔢
A 2023 study by Gartner on C-level executives found that nearly 60% of tech leaders reported feeling constantly "on," with their work-life boundaries completely eroded. Furthermore, research from the American Psychological Association indicates that 75% of executives experience high levels of stress, directly linking it to the pressure of a demanding schedule and the need to be a constant high-performer. This data highlights the reality that while some expectations are clearly defined, the personal toll of managing them is often overlooked.
The Human Impact 🚀
This pressure isn't just about long hours; it's about the erosion of personal joy. The things that once brought unadulterated pleasure can begin to feel frivolous. Leaders often find their lives becoming transactional, opting to pay others to handle tasks they once loved doing themself. This shift can lead to a profound sense of isolation and a disconnect from what truly makes them happy, as the job consumes their identity and personal time.
Charting a New Path 👣
You can have it all (not always at the same time), but you don't have to do it all.
As a leader, you know the feeling of being pulled in every direction. Your work consumes your calendar and your brain space, leaving little room for anything else. The constant travel, late-night emails, and weekend work can feel like the price of success.
But what if you could lead effectively and reclaim your personal life? It's not only possible, it's essential for long-term impact and fulfillment. It starts with being intentional; defining your purpose and values beyond your job title.
Consider Sarah, a design director in tech who felt her life was being consumed by her job. She was always on call and traveling on weekends, feeling like she was losing touch with her family, community, and hobbies. Realizing this wasn't sustainable, she took a weekend to herself to get clear on what she valued most and what she wanted more of, and less of, in her life.
She realized her purpose wasn't just to be a "design director." She also wanted to be a supportive partner, creatively inspired and a more impactful leader. With this newfound clarity, she consciously rearranged her schedule and resources to support those values.
Be Creatively Inspired: To regain her sense of creativity, she began scheduling a monthly "artist's date." This as a solo expedition to do something that enchants and interests you. The ritual helped her reconnect with her creative spirit which made her feel alive again. Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Date Book was the source.
Be a More Supportive Partner: Sarah realized she needed to be more present for her family. She started by scheduling dedicated family time on her calendar each morning—time that couldn't be overwritten. She also reclaimed more weekends by changing her travel habits. Instead of flying to company headquarters on Sunday evenings for Monday meetings, she began traveling on weekdays instead. For international trips, she stopped padding her travel with weekends to "get over jet lag," a practice she found was rarely effective. She shortened her trips, confining her travel to weekdays whenever possible. This meant less time spent awake at 3 a.m. in a hotel room in Bangalore watching reruns of National Geographic.
Be a More Impactful Leader: Sarah realized that if her calendar was always full of other people's agendas, she had no room for her own. She had to make time in order to align her strengths and experience with the business goal to build a world class UX design team for hte company. This clarity meant she now became very good and two things. Delegating and building sustainable teams.
Delegating: Sara created a monthly inventory of all her meetings and asked herself for each one, "Is attending this meeting the best use of my time?" If the answer was no, she considered who might want to take it on and how it would help them grow their career. This strategy is known as defensive calendaring, and you can find a Google Sheets template online to help you get started.
Building Sustainable Teams: Sarah's time was consumed by endless recruiting and hiring meetings, a process largely driven by recruiters focused on hitting short-term targets. She realized that to be a more impactful leader, she needed to shift from a reactive approach to a long-term hiring strategy that would truly serve the business.
She started by closely analyzing her team's structure, specifically the ratio of junior, mid-level, and senior designers. She considered whether she had the right number of senior leaders to serve as her second-in-command and if her team had the necessary leadership bench strength to handle the work in her absence. Sarah aimed to spend more time collaborating with other executives on design strategy across the company and needed to trust her team could carry on the work without her.
Sarah envisioned what a better team ratio would look like three years down the line for both the business and her team. She developed a comprehensive plan with clear career paths to cultivate a pipeline of future leaders. She also recognized that some of her current senior leaders had limited opportunities for growth within the existing structure and would need to transition out of the team within that three-year timeframe. Sarah improved what she could within her team and collaborated with the recruiting department, sharing her new vision to ensure a more aligned and strategic approach to building her team's future.
The Short Of It 💥
Taking a step back to define what truly matters to you now, as a creative leader, not a manager or an individual contributor, can transform your life and impact as a leader. By aligning your work with your personal values, you can create a career that is both impactful and sustainable. You must protect your personal well-being, invest in your team's autonomy, and remember that true leadership is as much about your own sustainability as it is about your company's success.
That's it for this week!
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With ❤️ from Sally
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