Voice from the Chair

Belonging Builds Better Engineering

“Leaders are not born in boardrooms. They are built through networks, nurtured by communities, and strengthened by lifting others.”

When we talk about leadership in the built environment, we often talk about the destination, the senior role, the title, the recognition, the seat at the table.

But we don’t always talk enough about what happens along the way.

Very few careers are built alone. Behind most successful professionals are people who opened a door, shared an opportunity, made an introduction, offered advice, challenged an idea, or simply said, “You should go for it.”

Sometimes, that one conversation can change the direction of a career.

The power of belonging

I have come to believe that one of the most powerful things a professional community can create is not simply opportunity, but a sense of belonging.

You can be technically excellent and still feel that you don’t quite belong in the room. You can have years of experience and still hesitate to speak. Equally, someone at the beginning of their career can flourish very quickly when they find the right people around them.

This is particularly relevant in the built environment.

Our industry brings together engineers, designers, architects, sustainability professionals, contractors, manufacturers, academics, facilities professionals and many others. We work across disciplines, organisations, cultures and generations.

Yet it is very easy to stay within the boundaries of our own companies, disciplines and familiar professional circles.

That is why networks matter.

Not networking simply for exchanging business cards or adding another LinkedIn connection, but real professional communities where people know one another, exchange knowledge, challenge each other and create opportunities for others.

Leadership is not a title

One thing I would particularly like us to challenge is the idea that leadership begins when somebody becomes a manager, director or CEO.

It starts much earlier.

Leadership can be the young engineer who asks the question everyone else was hesitant to ask.

It can be the experienced professional who takes ten minutes to explain something to a graduate.

It can be someone recommending a colleague for a speaking opportunity, introducing two people who should know each other, or making space for another voice in a meeting.

And sometimes leadership is simply recognising potential in someone before they recognise it in themselves.

We meet women and men who are recognised as leaders in our industry, and I often find myself wondering, what set them apart?

A title alone does not make someone a leader. What matters is what that person has done, how they have shown up over time, the decisions they have made, the people they have supported and the values they have consistently demonstrated.

Sometimes it is courage. Sometimes it is resilience. Sometimes it is technical excellence, empathy, the ability to listen, or simply the determination to keep going when things become difficult.

That is why I believe there is so much value in meeting the people who lead our industry and hearing the stories behind the title. Not simply what position they hold today, but what they did along the way, what they learned, what challenged them and what helped shape the leader they became.

Because those are the lessons the rest of us can learn from.

Leaders are not born in boardrooms. They are built through networks, nurtured by communities, and strengthened by lifting others.

That last part matters enormously to me.

Leadership should never be only about how far we individually progress. It should also be about how many people are able to progress because we were there.

Different generations, different perspectives

There is another opportunity I believe our professional communities need to embrace: bringing generations together.

Young professionals entering our industry today see careers differently from those who entered it twenty or thirty years ago. They are asking different questions about purpose, wellbeing, flexibility, sustainability and what success actually means.

At the same time, our experienced professionals carry something that cannot be downloaded, automated or learned from a textbook, years of judgement, lessons, mistakes and lived experience.

We need both.

The conversation should not always be about senior professionals teaching younger ones. There is enormous potential for two-way mentoring, where generations listen to and learn from one another.

That is how communities remain relevant.

Beyond women supporting women

As Chair of WiBSE MENA, naturally I want to see more women choosing careers in building services engineering, remaining in the industry and progressing within it.

But attracting women into our industry is only part of the story. We also need to create the support networks, encouragement, mentoring, training and opportunities that enable women already here to achieve their career goals and continue to grow.

And achieving that cannot be a conversation involving women alone.

Inclusive workplaces are created collectively.

Men need to be part of the conversation. Senior leaders need to be part of it. Employers, universities and professional institutions need to be part of it. WiBSE itself welcomes both women and men, and I believe that inclusivity matters.

And while there are experiences that may affect women differently, ultimately good leadership is good leadership.

A leader creates opportunity, listens, challenges, supports and enables others to succeed. There isn’t a separate definition of leadership depending on whether that person is a woman or a man.

Perhaps that is also why belonging matters so much.

The goal shouldn’t simply be to help people enter rooms where decisions are being made. It should be to create rooms where different people feel comfortable contributing once they get there.

What I hope we can build

As we begin this new chapter for WiBSE MENA, I would love for us to build more than a calendar of events.

I want us to build a community people genuinely want to be part of, and a support network that helps more women join, stay and progress within our industry.

A place where a student considering building services engineering can meet someone who helps them see what a career in our industry could look like.

Where a graduate or emerging engineer can find their first mentor, build confidence and develop their professional network.

Where women already established within the industry can find encouragement, support, mentoring, training and opportunities to continue progressing.

Where we meet the people leading our industry and go beyond their job titles to understand what set them apart, what they consistently worked on, what they learned along the way and how they are helping others progress.

Where people from different disciplines, organisations, cultures and generations meet outside their usual professional circles.

And where opportunities are not guarded, but shared.

From conversation to impact

I would also love for us to use the strength of this community to create initiatives that have a real and measurable impact.

That means creating opportunities to connect, learn, lead and contribute, while turning good ideas into meaningful action.

For me, this is about purpose beyond events. It is about asking ourselves: how do we practise what we preach?

If we talk about sustainability, how do we translate that into meaningful action? If we talk about supporting the next generation, how do we create real opportunities for students and young professionals? If we talk about inclusion and leadership, how do we make sure different voices are heard and people are given opportunities to grow?

Events bring people together, and that matters. But what happens because those people came together matters even more.

That, to me, is what purpose beyond events really means.

Building something bigger

Our industry is ultimately about creating environments in which people can live, work and thrive. I believe our professional communities should aspire to do much the same for the people within them.

We should create spaces where knowledge is shared, different perspectives are welcomed, young professionals are supported, experienced professionals remain engaged, and leadership is something we practice rather than simply a position we aspire to.

Because ultimately, the strength of our industry will not be measured only by the buildings, infrastructure and systems we create.

It will also be measured by the people we develop and the positive impact we create along the way.

And perhaps that is where leadership really begins.

Not in the boardroom, but in the communities that help people believe they belong there!