How do you get support when you are a new leader?
Nannette Sakyi from Barnet Homes spoke with Sarah Smith from Indigo and Janette Hirst from Northampton Borough Council at the Housing Diversity Network Conference in July.
We have been working to support a new mentoring initiative from Housing Diversity Network (HDN) and Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH). Indigo Leadership has been running the CIH’s 4 Day Managers’ Programme for a while and delegates can now choose to have a mentor from HDN’s pool of Senior Housing Managers.
Janette Hirst, Housing Systems Team Leader from Northampton Borough Council, has had ICT roles in local government for 27 years, but when she took on a leadership role she found it difficult to get an accurate picture about how well she was doing. As a result of the programme and the mentoring option she chose, she has found that she is now far more focused on strategic decision making and says that she not only makes difficult decisions with new-found confidence, she is also dealing with the barrage of paperwork she faces more efficiently.Nannette Sayki,
Housing Needs Manager from Barnet Homes considers herself light-hearted and easy going. She was delighted when she got her first management role but after a few weeks in the job she had the dawning realisation that she might have to give tough messages to the friends she now managed. The self-reflective rather than text-book approach of the 4 Day Managers’ Programme was a godsend and gave her an opportunity to discuss real life scenarios with a small and welcoming group.Both Nannette and Janette leapt at the chance of mentoring. Nannette says of her mentor David Blackburn, who was then Director of Business Support at Shepherd’s Bush Housing Group, “Our conversations were relaxed. We spoke about everything from recruitment and networking tips to team building. It was amazing to have just time for me.”
We asked Janette’s mentor, Mo Baker, Head of Customer and Support Services at Wellingborough Homes about how she found being a mentor. She said, “As a new manager, I wish I’d had someone around to explore ideas with. It’s been fantastic to see how Janette’s confidence has grown as she tries new things out.” As another mentor, Anne McLoughlin, Operations Director at Hastoe, put it, “I really believe that high quality social housing is a great thing for tenants and for sustainable, diverse communities. I want to pass on some of my passion for the sector and support those who are up and coming reach their full potential.”
Sarah Smith from Indigo Leadership has been running the CIH programme for the past five years and along with Juliet Hancock from HDN, they have been training the mentors. Jane Smith, Senior Adviser, Investigation and Enforcement at the Homes and Communities Agency, a mentor on the programme, says, “The training sessions were powerful. I felt really challenged to improve my skills”
.If you work in Housing and would like to attend the 4 Day Managers’ Programme you can contact Pui at CIH on 020 7520 3385 or e-mail her.For more information about becoming a mentor on the programme, contact Carla at the Housing Diversity Network on 0 0870 143 2732 or e-mail her.