Why moral ambition still matters in homelessness leadership

Rather than trying to squeeze what we already do into a vague strategic framework – one that reassures regulators, fits appraisal systems and avoids constraining us in a short‑term funding environment – what if we were more ambitious? What if we were more hopeful? What if, instead of spending the bulk of our leadership attention on regulation, viability, margins, targets and incoming legislation, we asked ourselves a more uncomfortable question: what would it take to genuinely help end homelessness?

That question isn’t naive. It doesn’t ignore the reality of regulation or finance – we still take both seriously, and we must. But it does challenge the idea that leadership is only about managing scarcity and mitigating risk. It asks whether, in the face of so much that feels broken around us, we might regain a sense of moral ambition.

“Leadership attention matters. If it is only ever focused on inspections and budgets, enthusiasm is damped and ideas are submerged”

I was fortunate to have time with Framework’s retiring chief executive, someone who never lost sight of why this work matters. He challenged me hard. When I disagreed with a policy position, he listened – and then pushed back: “If not that, then what?”

Leadership, he reminded me, isn’t just about critique. It’s about taking responsibility for what comes next.

I tested my thinking cautiously at first. With senior colleagues. With our board. With managers. Nobody laughed me out of the room. In fact, quite the opposite happened. People were energised. They were relieved to talk about why we exist, not just how we comply. They were ready to challenge practices that no longer serve us, and hungry to find better answers.

That matters, because we know that great homelessness practice can be derailed all too easily: by one burned‑out community psychiatric nurse, one overwhelmed social worker, one jaded support worker.

Leadership attention matters. If it is only ever focused on inspections and budgets, enthusiasm is damped and ideas are submerged. If we are relentlessly negative about the system around us, we risk draining the very motivation we need to create change.

What excites me now is the opportunity to do things differently. Framework has commissioned research exploring how learning about executive function and cognitive impairment can be better translated into policy, service design and support in supported housing. Across the sector, there is growing insight from psychology, neuroscience and addiction treatment that we are only just beginning to embed properly. Leadership is about creating the space to do that.

“Our greatest skill is not writing the best bids or balancing the books in a storm – important though those are. It is our ability to make our organisations better than they already are”

There are reasons, cautiously, to feel hopeful. The national plan to end homelessness has traction. Investment in supported housing brings opportunity. The Treasury’s value‑for‑money review may finally land the message that supported housing saves a fortune elsewhere in the system.

But optimism does not mean pretending everything is fine. Regulation, finance, technology and politics will continue to create pressure and distraction. Ethical providers risk seeing margins squeezed, while rogues find new ways around the rules.

The challenge for leaders is to protect thinking time, and to use it well. Our greatest skill is not writing the best bids or balancing the books in a storm – important though those are. It is our ability to make our organisations better than they already are. To connect ambition with practice. And to remind our workforce why this work matters.

Stepping into a new leadership role is a whirlwind. But if we can hold onto moral ambition – and choose optimism grounded in evidence, learning and courage – we might just find that the energy this creates is one of the most powerful resources we have.

Claire McGonigle, chief executive, Framework