COMMENT There’s no question that a lack of diversity is one of the biggest risks to our industry’s future today. Without a diverse range of people, how can we create the diverse range of spaces that our customers want and need, both now and in the future?
Gender and ethnicity are a good starting point (and our industry still has a long way to go on both these measures), but they do not necessarily equate to cognitive diversity, which is less talked about but just as critical.
A group of people with the same background and opinions will inevitably lead to a narrower perspective. With nobody to challenge the status quo, it’s very hard to see how any business can function at its best and be sure it is making the right decisions for shareholders.
But how do we achieve it? The answer is by opening our businesses up to people who not only think differently but also challenge our preconceptions from the outset, no matter what their background, ethnicity or gender.
Out of the comfort zone
That can be a tough challenge as it may make us feel uncomfortable, but that is exactly the point. Our customers’ needs are changing so fast and our industry needs to keep up. It’s not comfortable and it’s not easy, but it is exciting, and it’s more important than ever that we embrace new ways of thinking and doing things.
The challenge runs right through our industry, from our leaders to our apprentices. The skills required to be a good leader have changed significantly in the last 10 years. In the past, a dominant personality, clear sense of purpose and extraordinary drive characterised many successful global business leaders. A command-and-control style of leadership was effective. But it wasn’t without its problems. Command-and-control worked in a very hierarchical world. It’s a leadership style that breeds fear and rarely draws out the best talent.
The ability to communicate a clear and consistent vision for the business, as well as its values and expectations, to a broad and diverse audience is a key skill for leadership. Command-and-control is no longer a viable option. In an ever more connected and global world, the ability to connect with people, whatever their experience, background or language, is crucial. Emotional intelligence is critical.
Busting the myths
How many young people see themselves as future leaders of our industry? At Landsec, our academy trainee programme welcomes five school-leavers each year into our business, introducing them to the different dimensions of property over a two-year period, and busting the myth that property needs a traditional university education.
But to continue attracting raw talent into property, we need to ensure that teenagers from a diverse range of backgrounds see a future in property and don’t feel they need to fit the traditional image of our industry.
It’s not just at entry level. We need to widen the talent pool at all levels, and that has been a key consideration at Landsec as we’ve looked outside the sector to fill key roles. But once we’ve attracted diverse thinkers into our industry, we then need to look critically at how we keep them. Are we creating an environment that encourages people to be themselves and allows them to flourish so that we can properly benefit from the diversity that the broadest range of talent can bring?
Too often, there can be pressure to fit the existing mould. Or the desire for new hires to hit the ground running means there is less time, space or tolerance for mistakes, so it’s simply easier to do things the established way. Of course, process is necessary in any business, and it’s important for people to learn fast, but conformity and a fear of failure not only stifles innovation and creativity, but also creates an environment where achieving and retaining cognitive diversity is almost impossible.
Those with a different perspective, while less of an obvious fit within the existing culture of the property industry, are the people that will speak most eloquently to future customers, and are therefore the leaders our industry needs.
Colette O’Shea is managing director, London and retail portfolio, at Landsec
