Like many, we’re saddened by Brenda Barnes’ recent decision to step-down as CEO of Sara Lee in order to focus on improving her health following a stroke in May.

First and foremost, we feel terrible that Barnes (pictured) suffered a stroke at such a young age (55), necessitating this move. Second, her departure means the number of our precious few female Fortune 500 CEOs is one less. Third, as co-founders of a company focusing on professionals who return to work after a career break, we particularly regret seeing a female executive who creatively managed her career and personal life leave such a high profile business leadership role. Barnes accomplished the rarest of achievements for a senior level professional: she left the C-suite to spend more time with her family, and returned to a similar post six years later.  

In 1998, Barnes famously quit her post as CEO of Pepsico North America to be at home with her three kids. Her resignation was controversial. Even the kinder commentators called it a giant step backwards for women in business. Barnes herself said she was unprepared for the intense public reaction to what she felt was a purely personal decision.  In an interview on About.com with Katherine Lewis, Barnes said about her decision to spend time with her family, “If I didn’t spend more time now, I would not have that opportunity.” 

Of course, Barnes was not a typical stay-at-home mom (not that there is such a thing)!  During her career break, she sat on corporate boards, one of which was Starwood Hotels, where she spent five months as interim President and COO in 1999-2000. She also taught business management classes in 2002. Barnes' ability to keep her business network alive and engage in occasional consulting projects, while spending more time with her family, was an excellent and instructive example of how professionals can manage their career breaks. 

Then, in 2004, she surprised the business world again when she nabbed the COO spot at Sara Lee, despite the six-year “gap” on her resume, and less than a year later was promoted to the top spot.  Think about it for a moment. Would any traditional search firm have proposed her for the job?  She probably wouldn’t even have made the “long list” at Egon Zehnder, the firm that’s been hired to find her replacement as CEO.   

Barnes not only proved that you can relaunch a career, she’s been a huge advocate of giving opportunities to others who have taken a career break.  As she told Lewis in the About.com interview “Women run this society. They're running the schools. They're running the communities. They're running charities. They're doing PTAs. They're doing all kinds of things that keep society going. That should not be undervalued by them or anybody they're going to interview with.” 

And she supported her words with actions.  In 2008, in the midst of the recession, Barnes launched Returnships@Sara Lee™ “to provide opportunities for mid-career individuals re-entering the workforce after having been away for a number of years.”  Initially conceived as a paid internship that converted to a permanent role if the candidate was successful, the company was so happy with the high level talent it recruited through the program that returning professionals can now apply for any open position at Sara Lee and know they will be given equal consideration despite any gaps on their resumes.  According to the Returnships@Sara Lee™ webpage, “We at Sara Lee value your experiences both in and out of the workplace.”  This, to us, is Barnes’ most important legacy, and why we will miss her in the CEO role. 

To those who said that leaving Pepsico was a giant step back for women, we say that Barnes' management of her career break and successful return as COO and CEO of Sara Lee was a record setting long jump forward for women in business. Here's Sara Lee Board Chairman James S. Crown on Barnes’ accomplishments as CEO:  “.....she successfully transformed Sara Lee into a strong global food and beverage company with a focused portfolio of leading brands” and worked “tirelessly to build a high-performance culture internally and enhance the company’s reputation among all of its stakeholders.” 

Brenda, we wish you a swift and complete recovery and hope that you will soon be well enough to start a new chapter in your exemplary life and career.   

(Disclosure: Sara Lee was a sponsor of the iRelaunch Return to Work Conference, produced by our company, while Barnes was CEO.)

Vivian Steir Rabin, and Carol Fishman Cohen, are the co-authors of Back on the Career Track and the co-founders of iRelaunch, which produces the iRelaunch Return to Work Conference throughout the U.S. and U.K.