EDITOR’S COMMENT Amid all the doom and gloom of rising interest rates, a run on redemptions, the UK officially becoming Europe’s most distressed market, the politics, etc, I feel a responsibility to offer up a little oasis of optimism for you.
Now, optimism and the RICS are not two words that have gone together on this page – or many others –for a long time. But could things be about to change?
Last week, the RICS officially launched its search for a chair of the board and a director general. All part of recommendations laid out in Lord Bichard’s review in June.
The RICS says the two “critical leadership” roles will focus on continuing to restore members’ confidence in the institution through the transformation phase and beyond, as well as placing the public interest at the heart of its work.
It says: “The roles will ensure that RICS as an institution and the profession it serves both become more diverse and inclusive and that RICS shows greater leadership on the issues that matter most to society and our profession, such as sustainability, future skills and climate change.”
The very fact the RICS has come out and publicly stated its intent for these two “critical” roles is one reason to be optimistic the institution as we have come to know it over the past few years wants to change as much as it needs to change.
What also gives me some reasons to be cheerful is who has been appointed to help select these two leaders. Alongside chair of the appointment panel, HR specialist Harriet Kemp, the group choosing who will take on these roles includes former Strutt & Partner senior partner Andy Martin, recently retired CBRE veteran Michael Brodtman, Savills Ireland director Isobel O’Regan, arbitrator Gaynor Warren-Wright and current RICS president Clement Lau.
This is a gaggle of smart people who know their craft well and understand the importance of surveying as a profession too. But what stands out most to me – and I know she won’t mind me saying this – is the RICS’s bravery at putting Warren-Wright on the panel. Warren-Wright would have of course been chosen for her decades of experience in the dispute resolution world, but also for her strong stance on the need for proper, authentic action on diversity and inclusion.
Warren-Wright is a proud trans woman. She shared her story last November and since then has been tirelessly showing up, being visible and helping others be more visible too. She has been asking difficult and awkward questions to her peers, to the industry as a whole and to the RICS. “What is your stance on member countries that make it illegal to be trans or, worse still, punishable by death?” she has unapologetically asked.
I have optimism because I know no one is getting through this process and taking one of these two critical roles if they don’t truly “get it” when it comes to the big issues facing the sector. Warren-Wright won’t let them. And nor, knowing many of them as I do, will the others.
And that kind of strength of purpose will be required if the RICS really is to transform into something better, something more relevant and something the sector can be proud to call its governing body.
Kudos too to the RICS for not just looking inside its own confines for the panel. Leadership expert Gillian Stamp and senior civil servant Marta Phillips make up the remainder of the board.
The new chair will be a RICS member but the director general could come from outside the industry. There is huge pressure to get this right.
If you are looking for big rays of sunshine in a dark world, make sure to get your tickets for EG’s Future Leaders grand finale on 24 November. Early bird rate closes on 14 October. I promise it will be the best £99 you’ll ever spend.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews
