From Yorkshire mining communities to the boardroom: leadership, representation and finding your voice in housing

Progress is happening. However, when I joined Incommunities in 2021, having worked for 14 years at Mencap, it was clear to me that the housing sector still had a long way to go.

I’d previously only worked in the third sector and private sector – housing was new to me. At one of my first housing conferences, I was mistaken for a male colleague’s personal assistant rather than his peer. A small moment but a telling one, which highlighted that seniority still looks and sounds a certain way to many people: often, it’s male.

“Women often don’t feel as qualified to apply for that next position as men do, but when they can see themselves represented at every level, including senior leadership, it changes what feels possible”

Being under the leadership of a female chief executive at Incommunities sets an important tone for our organisation. With a near 50-50 gender balance at leadership level, and a gender pay gap of only -3.66%, we are proud that our business reflects the principle that “seeing is believing”.

Women often don’t feel as qualified to apply for that next position as men do, but when they can see themselves represented at every level, including senior leadership, it changes what feels possible. I can certainly say that’s true for myself. At Incommunities, I have learnt through my relationship with my female peers to lead with empathy and authenticity.

As a leader, you don’t want to stand up and talk about a strategy or an initiative and have people thinking, “that doesn’t connect to my world”. So shadow colleagues, ask questions, stay curious. I often find myself in meetings asking: “But what does that actually mean?” It’s easy at an executive level to get comfortable with language that feels distant to our staff and customers.

I’ve been out and up trees with our team of arborists, I’ve helped to clean communal areas in flats and seen the immense professionalism of housing officers when dealing with difficult situations. When you’ve walked alongside someone in their day-to-day work, when you’ve seen the pressures they face and the decisions they have to make, you lead differently.

“A big focus is encouraging more women to apply for trade roles. We want to challenge perceptions and make it clear that these careers are for women too”

With our balanced board at Incommunities, the diversity of thought in our business has become a strength, with people around the table that bring different lived experiences and perspectives. This shift has allowed our services to be more inclusive, more innovative and ultimately more effective for the people who rely on us, whether that’s our staff or our customers.

When we’re recruiting, we put profiles for new roles through a gender decoding tool to remove biased language and anonymise applications. And through our EDI strategy, we have clear goals around targeting recruitment for roles where certain groups are underrepresented.

Our apprenticeship programme is a key part of this. Previously, we received over 1,000 applications for eight roles. This time, we’re confident we’ll surpass this figure. A big focus is encouraging more women to apply for trade roles. We want to challenge perceptions and make it clear that these careers are for women too.

Women often undersell ourselves, but with someone in your corner – family, peers, a mentor – to believe in you and champion you, you can go far.

I grew up in Hull, an economically deprived city, and went to a school where few students achieved their GCSEs. Being labelled the “star pupil” gave me belief that there was something in me, and underlined the importance of tenacity. Working with my mum as a Saturday girl in her hairdressing business – at a time when women didn’t have careers – was also inspiring.

The advice I give to women I work with, and to any woman aspiring to senior leadership in housing, is not to give up. Have the confidence to go after what you want. Get a mentor, move around different roles. Success doesn’t have to mean a purely hierarchical journey – follow your ambition and see where it leads you.

Sara Sheard, executive director of business operation, Incommunities