Workplace Culture - What could it look like?

I am an enthusiastic young architect, with a particular interest in older ages living and the care & support sector. I was initially drawn to the Housing LIN Future Leaders’ Programme by the opportunity to meet and work with other aspiring leaders in the sector, where we could share our experiences and ideas (largely coming from a design perspective), I have come away with so much more than that.

Over the past year, as part of the programme, I have been delighted to meet some of my passionate peers, as well as, key industry leaders, all of which have given an invaluable insight into their careers and aspirations. The programme of speakers has been well rounded, opening my eyes to all that goes on behind the scenes in the care and support sector, further highlighting the significance of the impact we, and our teams could have. 

We talked a lot about the culture of leadership, whether that be through positive or negative experiences and how we can learn from each of those encounters. We talked about the type of leaders we wanted to work with, the type of leaders we wanted to be and subsequently, what the future of the workplace culture could look like. Key to these discussions, were some of the characteristics demonstrated by our speakers; compassion and the ability to acknowledge the impact a team could have, where all efforts were team based, and that no one person had all the answers.

Another common theme, which was surprising to most of us, was that our incredibly successful and knowledgeable speakers all talked about failure and its place at some point or another, something we ought not to be afraid of and something that we can and must learn from. We often hear of success stories, and only that, when typically, there are a string of unsuccessful ideas that came before. Meeting these inspiring leaders has helped encourage me to take a leap of faith and have confidence in myself and my enthusiasm to follow my future aspirations.

The programme helped give me the assurance to follow my passions, albeit still work in progress. I very much look forward to keeping in touch with and hearing all about the fantastic work my Future Leader’s cohort and the team at Housing LIN go on to do.

If I could re-enrol on the programme, I would!

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Ellen's blog is one of 7 from the 2nd cohort of the Housing LIN’s Future Leaders’ Programme that we are publishing in the lead up to our virtual Summit – A Festival of Ideas and the virtual session on Tuesday, 28 February 2023 (2.30pm-pm-4pm). Register now for Inspiring young talent: investing in our future housing and care leaders

Find out more about Housing LIN’s Future Leaders’ Programme and read the other blogs once published.