Succeeding in housing means leading with empathy

Other women in leadership roles have shaped my journey. I’ve worked under a female manager whose behaviours knocked my confidence badly. After that experience, I worked under a younger female manager who inherited a fairly battered version of me and rebuilt my confidence through her acute emotional intelligence. 

Looking at who I am now, all my experience has strengthened how I lead and taught me how much emotional intelligence matters. 

At Fusion21, half of our workforce is female, and our senior leadership team is made up of five women and three men. When I joined Fusion21 in August 2020, right in the middle of lockdown, Sarah, our head of social value, quickly became my go-to confidant, and her peer support through the trials of home-schooling made a real difference. 

“[Our projects] succeed because talented people – many of them women – lead them with empathy and emotional intelligence”

In my work leading the Fusion21 Foundation, a charity established by national social enterprise Fusion21, our work focuses on employment and skills, health and well-being, and financial inclusion and resilience – areas where inequality is deeply felt, particularly by women.

Since its inception in 2015, the foundation has awarded more than £4m in grants and committed £2m in social investment, supporting the communities our members serve.

One project that stands out is our partnership with the Tomorrow’s Women charity in Birkenhead. Shortly after the pandemic, one of our housing association members raised concerns about rising domestic abuse – in part due to lockdowns.

Tomorrow’s Women was already delivering vital face-to-face support locally. Our funding enabled the creation of a safe digital platform so women in crisis who could not access the service in person could still get support and training.

We’ve also funded a three-year programme with End Furniture Poverty to support housing associations to establish furnished tenancies – a practical intervention making a real difference for people leaving homelessness or fleeing abuse.

Across different programmes, the principle is the same: partnerships underpin impact. They succeed because talented people – many of them women – lead them with empathy and emotional intelligence. 

“There are key times in women’s lives when careers can stall – childcare, caring responsibilities and menopause, for example. I’ve benefited from flexible organisations and, in the main, supportive managers during those periods”

In my career, I’ve worked with brilliant women who understand this instinctively, and I’ve been lucky to work in sectors where there are plenty of female leaders to draw inspiration from. But structural barriers remain.

There are key times in women’s lives when careers can stall – childcare, caring responsibilities and menopause, for example. I’ve benefited from flexible organisations and, in the main, supportive managers during those periods, and having that flexibility and understanding matters.

Male allies matter too – professionally and personally. I’ve seen male leaders step up and support women in ways that genuinely make a difference. I nearly didn’t apply for a senior role earlier in my career because I convinced myself it was “too senior” for me. It took my husband to give me a nudge to submit the application.

Too many talented women wait until they feel almost perfect before pushing themselves. My advice: go for it! You don’t need to tick every box to lead.

Something else I would actively encourage women to do is move around. We often feel pressure to climb in a straight line. Moving across sectors builds perspective. Different roles give you different tools and skillsets.

I have recently recruited two talented women to the Fusion 21 Foundation team, and part of my responsibility now is to be a supportive leader and sounding board. Women need practical clarity on progression, and senior leaders – women and men – who actively open doors.

Leadership in housing isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room. It’s about creating a culture where people feel safe to contribute. Values-led traits – empathy and emotional intelligence – aren’t soft skills; they are strategic strengths.

This International Women’s Day, I hope women in housing see that their leadership, grounded in these values, is both vital and celebrated.

Jo Hannan, head, Fusion21 Foundation