MBA Guest Speaker: Julie Fadden, CEO of South Liverpool Housing
Julie Fadden is the CEO of SLH, a Housing Association based in South Liverpool, serving 3,700 tenants with a staff of 97. She is also Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), the professional body for those working in the housing profession in the UK, which has over 22,000 members.
Julie’s talk “Making SLH the place to be” explored the unique values which have made South Liverpool housing such a success. She discussed her perspective on, and approach to leadership and her strategies for achieving the best possible engagement and performance from her staff.
SLH have the honour of being placed at number 1 in the Sunday Times “Best Company to work for in the not-for-profit category for the past three years running. Additionally, this year, SLH is the only entry on the ST list to rank first in all eight of the areas measured, and Julie Fadden won the special award for Best Leader.
Julie focussed on the starting point for a journey to success. She emphasised the importance of positivity at work, relating success to positive attitude, enthusiasm, integrity and humour. A genuine love of people and a passion for what you do all contribute to company success.
Julie highlighted the common elements which are shared by the most successful companies. The companies that succeed are those who act on their results and work closely with teams to address any arising issues. Leadership is also instrumental and the ability to mentor leaders within an organisation to develop and learn. There should be a shared aim to improve company results year on year but also to celebrate results and appreciate success when it is earned.