Opinion: Wasted youth

When I read about the fuss being made over the age of the new chief executive of the Housing Corporation, 35-year-old Jon Rouse, I had to ask myself what the problem was. Then it clicked – I work in the housing sector.

I wonder if the commentators have not heard of Karren Brady of Birmingham City FC, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Martha Lane Fox of Lastminute.com – all of whom became leaders of large organisations at a very young age. Another example that recently caught my eye was the appointment of Ian Hogarth, 24, as manager of a major train station. Could a similar move ever happen in housing?

The recent experience of an acquaintance who applied for a job as chief executive of a major registered social landlord does not fill me with confidence. This person was recommended by headhunters, but the recruitment panel turned down the recommendation. When he called the headhunters to find out why, he was told the board had no problem with his record and enthusiasm, but felt he was too young.

But what is so different about housing that we are afraid of youthful leaders? Why are we not prepared to give younger people who show promise the early opportunity they could have in other sectors – especially when, in almost the same breath, we make a lot of noise about attracting young people into the sector?

Trying to attract young people is one thing, retaining them is another. There must be a conducive environment for young people to thrive.

A word of advice to those trying to recruit young people: it would help if we created an environment that valued their contribution and led them to believe that if they are good enough, they are also old enough to tackle more responsibilities.

The Housing Corporation's Leadership 2010 report, which aims to improve the diversity of leadership among associations, recognises that changing demographics, rising customer and stakeholder expectations and the demands of the Communities Plan will bring further change to the sector and require a more diverse leadership, working in different, more flexible ways and facing ever greater challenges. It focuses on the importance of promoting more women and people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, but the young should not be left out: this reverse age discrimination needs to be addressed.

The age profile of boards must better reflect the adult working population and boards need to be less shortsighted when searching for new leaders. The perception that longevity equals experience needs to be dispensed with, because it is the quality of experience and not its length that matters.

The In Business for Neighbourhoods vision can only be realised by the next generation of emerging leaders. The agenda will be limited in its outcomes if the existing thinking and structures that select those who lead our organisations remain; we must challenge our current mindset and be bold enough to do things differently.

The fact is, however, that resistance will be futile because transformation is coming anyway and, like a typhoon, the pressure will be overwhelming. The world around us is changing and the future promises a lot of uncertainty. Certain behaviour that has rewarded the current leadership may not be appropriate.

New approaches must be developed to ensure that our best talents, no matter how young, are not lost to the sector.