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Chief executives must remember we are not superheroes swooping in to help the poor

As a chief executive it is important to retain some humility and avoid the hype, argues Sinead Butters 

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“We must remember that we are not superheroes, with capes flying, swooping in to help the poor. Some of our language feels like that, doesn’t it?” says @SineadBAspire #ukhousing

“Let’s sort out this sense that we are somehow better than others, better than other organisations, better than our peers, doing better, acting better, being better,” says @SineadBAspire #ukhousing

Reflecting on the future. That seems like two incompatible ideas, but I do like a challenge.

Last week, I hosted our annual PlaceShapers conference. It was held in Birmingham and attended by more than 150 people from all over the UK who had one thing in common – shared values, with tenants at our heart as we hope to provide the best for local communities.

We recently extended our membership to include other social housing landlords and our first ALMO is joining this month, along with three other new members.

We have recruited five new board members and are looking at our fees to ensure we are sustainable for the long-term.

But in the midst of strengthening our network and defining our areas of focus in 2020, we have looked back and seen that although there has been huge change, in reality, we are still dealing with the same issues across our communities and helping neighbourhoods to prosper.


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Next year, I will have been with Aspire for 20 years, 13 of those as chief executive. This year, we launched our ‘People First’ strategy, putting tenants at our heart and investing in our colleagues to make it happen.

What I have learned in this time is fairly simple – we must never stop learning or growing as people or as organisations.

There will always be the latest challenge, policy change, attack on the sector and so on. But in the middle of all this, there is us: our people on the ground working with other people to support them into housing and, for us, employment. People helping people.

We must never forget that. We must never believe so much in how wonderful we are that we lose sight of what we are here for. We must remember we are not superheroes, with capes flying, swooping in to help the poor. Some of our language feels like that, doesn’t it?

We must set high standards for ourselves and others, stick fast to our values, and think creatively to improve.

“We must remember we are not superheroes, with capes flying, swooping in to help the poor. Some of our language feels like that, doesn’t it?”

All of this starts at the top. Chief executives can sometimes think we’re too sexy for our shirts – sometimes, even, that we have it sussed.

Let’s sort out this sense that we are somehow better than others, better than other organisations, better than our peers, doing better, acting better, being better. A little competition isn’t a bad thing, but being a bit disappointed helps. It isn’t sexy, but it does set the tone for a humble, listening organisation, which is who we want to be.

We are all OK, mostly. We may even be great at times. But let’s forget the hype, reflect on the past and remember it was ever thus. There will be others who come after us and they will learn the lessons for the future. Perhaps we can make them worth learning.

Sinéad Butters, chief executive, Aspire Housing

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