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Uncomfortable as it is, it’s time for leaders to own their vulnerabilities

I hope the current Zoom-ocracy changes the power of leadership, with leaders becoming the host not the hero, writes Helen White

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Conversations are changing and now happening in a virtual way (picture: Getty)
Conversations are changing and now happening in a virtual way (picture: Getty)
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“I hope the current Zoom-ocracy changes the way we do leadership, with leaders becoming the host not the hero,” says @taff_Helen #ukhousing

“When it comes to governance, now is not the time to decide we need more controls, more assurance and more board meetings,” says @taff_Helen #ukhousing

Regardless of what the past 100 days have thrown at our tenants and colleagues, I remain hugely optimistic about the future.

Dare I say, I’m excited about the opportunity we now have to re-shape what we do, how we do it and raise our eyebrows when we’re hit with a ‘no but’ reaction to suggestions of fast-paced change.

This isn’t to say I’m not acutely aware of the huge challenges our tenants and communities face right now as we start to embark on our recovery from this torrid time.

I have faith and trust in my housing and community colleagues to do the right thing and provide the support our tenants need right now. We are asking for feedback from tenants on how we are doing. As we get it, we will learn and adapt.


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It would be easy to focus on what this means for the bottom line; to worry about the impact on our income as the reality of what lies ahead hits our tenants’ back pockets.

So, now is the time to have faith in our income team as they use an approach based on empathy, kindness and support to help our tenants pay their rent.

When it comes to governance, now is not the time to decide we need more controls, more assurance and more board meetings.

Our board have continued to scrutinise and hold me and others to account, but they have also asked ‘are you ok?’ and ‘how can we help?’ – two hugely powerful questions as we have been faced with the proverbial rug being pulled out from under our business model!

I’m letting the operational experts, also known as my colleagues, do what they need to do right now to support tenants and service delivery.

I’ve been clear they should work in a way that suits their family situation; working even more closely with their fellow team members to support each other.

Don’t get me wrong, I have fallen foul of the wicked temptation of trying to solve all the problems. I’ve lost count of how many hours I’ve spent talking about personal protective equipment (PPE).

I doubt my involvement will have had any impact on the amount or quality of PPE we sourced. But there have been other times when I’ve covered shifts at our homelessness accommodation when COVID-19 depleted our teams – that was the right thing to do.

I’m confident that operationally we are coping well. So, what should I be thinking about and doing?

Well, as uncomfortable as it, now is the time to be vulnerable as leaders, to show it’s OK not to have all the answers, not just relating to COVID-19 but also Black Lives Matter. It’s hugely uncomfortable to acknowledge that the well-meaning steps we have taken haven’t tackled the lack of people of colour in senior leadership positions and throughout the organisation. I have a duty to lead us into those uncomfortable spaces. As Rosalynn Carter said: “A great leader takes people where they don’t want to go, but ought to be.”

As leaders we have a duty to create the right environment for challenging and authentic conversations about the future.

Some will say: “We’ve been having these conversations for years.” This may be the case, but the way we engage and converse with each other has radically changed.

Conversations I previously had in the board room in my Reiss dress and LK Bennett jacket feel very different to the ones I have on Zoom dressed in ‘ath-leisure’, with a messy bun and no make-up while being pestered by the kids and answering the door to my 15th Amazon parcel of the week!

This shift is exciting. I’m convinced it will enable us to design and deliver better services in the future. Conversations are happening in a new ‘Zoom-ocracy’, enabling more authentic contributions and better challenge.

I hope this changes the power of leadership, with leaders becoming the host not the hero. I now feel part of the team with a sense of belonging that comes from being within our organisation’s WhatsApp group, where we share pictures of our pets, unfortunate injuries and more recently share our joy or dismay at Liverpool FC’s league win with memes of “You’ll never walk alone” to retorts of “You’ll never hear the end of it”.

I’ve always said my role as a leader is not to come up with the all the answers but to enable and support colleagues to be awesome at what they do. I’m going to focus on my role as custodian of our values and vision, ensuring we get and stay on track to deliver what our tenants and the wider community want and need from us.

Helen White, chief executive, Taff Housing Association

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