Written by James Carss, CEO at Castle Peak Group
The Leaders We Need Tomorrow Are Looking for Their First Opportunity Today
Having spent more than two decades recruiting senior leaders, one lesson has stayed with me throughout my career: diverse leadership doesn’t begin in the boardroom. It begins years earlier, with someone’s first opportunity, their first mentor and, often, someone prepared to see potential before experience.
Whenever we talk about the future workforce in housing, the conversation often turns to attraction. How do we encourage more young people to consider a career in the sector? How do we compete with technology, finance or the countless other industries vying for emerging talent?
At Castle Peak Group, we spend much of our time helping organisations appoint board members and executive leaders. Increasingly, however, our conversations are shifting towards the pipeline beneath today’s leadership. Because tomorrow’s chief executives, executive directors and board members are already somewhere in the system or perhaps more concerningly, they’re not.
The housing sector has one of the most compelling purposes of any industry. Few careers offer the opportunity to improve lives, strengthen communities and create lasting social impact every single day. Yet many young people simply don’t know that story exists.
If we’re serious about building a more diverse leadership population over the next decade, we have to widen access much earlier. That means engaging with schools, colleges and universities, creating meaningful work experience opportunities, developing apprenticeships that genuinely lead to long-term careers, and showcasing the incredible breadth of roles that exist across housing.
Diversifying the pipeline also means broadening our definition of talent. Potential doesn’t always arrive with the “right” university, the strongest network or the confidence that often comes with privilege. Some of the most capable future leaders may never have considered housing because nobody invited them to.
Importantly, when we talk about diversity, we need to remember that it is far broader than the characteristics we most often discuss. Ethnicity, gender and disability remain hugely important, but so too are social mobility, geography, educational opportunity and economic background. The reality is that where someone grows up, the school they attend or the networks they have access to can significantly influence the opportunities they believe are available to them.
Representation matters too. Young people are far more likely to imagine themselves succeeding when they can see people like themselves already leading organisations. Visible role models, authentic career stories and inclusive leadership all help demonstrate that opportunity is genuinely open to everyone.
But attraction is only half of the challenge. Creating a diverse intake means little if organisations don’t create environments where people can develop, belong and progress. Recruitment opens the door; inclusion determines whether people stay.
Too often, succession planning begins when a senior leader announces they’re leaving. In reality, succession planning should start with the apprentice joining today, the graduate beginning their first placement or the young colleague taking on their first management role. Those are the people who will shape our sector over the next twenty years.
Housing has always been about investing for the future. We build homes that last generations and create communities that stand the test of time. We should take exactly the same long-term approach to developing our people.
If we want leadership teams and boards that truly reflect the communities they serve, we can’t simply wait for diverse candidates to appear at executive level. We have to invest in the pipeline, remove barriers to opportunity and have the confidence to appoint on potential as well as experience.
Because the next generation of housing leaders is already out there. The real question is whether we’re doing enough to help them find us.
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