Sharon White

White hasn’t had it easy. Soon after she took over as John Lewis Partnership’s chair, its business was battered by COVID-19. Now the British retail empire—best known for the department store John Lewis and the upmarket supermarket Waitrose—is contending with rising inflation, spiraling energy bills, and an epidemic of shoplifting. The business recently started to show signs of a turnaround, posting a pre-tax loss of $71.6 million for the six months through July 2023—a 43% improvement from the year-earlier period. However, the task at hand seemingly proved too much for White, a former top civil servant with no prior experience in running a commercial organization; she recently announced that she will step down at the end of her five-year term in February 2025. Although White’s stint at John Lewis will be brief—she’ll be the business's shortest-serving chair—the impact of her leadership will be felt after she’s gone: Under her watch, the company became the first U.K. retailer to introduce six months of equal parenthood and paid maternity and paternity leave, and has been accredited as a Menopause Friendly Employer.