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Last week, Hannah Shaw and Annabel Pease attended The Urban Developer’s Women’s Leadership Lunch, hosted by MA Financial.

It was a great room of people from across the property industry, with plenty of honest conversation around leadership, influence, career progression and what it really takes to move into senior positions.

The panel with Kirby Rees, Ashleigh Button, Leanne Boyle and Cathy Housten was a real highlight, with some great insights into building a career across property, design, development and investment.

A few takeaways that stood out:

• Commercial acumen matters. Particularly for those coming from architecture and design backgrounds, understanding every facet of a building and being able to have conversations beyond your immediate discipline is increasingly important.

• Succession planning and equity partnerships in architecture are conversations that need to happen earlier in people’s careers.

• Networks and relationships matter. Being in the right rooms, building genuine relationships and surrounding yourself with people who recognise your influence can have a huge impact on career progression.

• “Just push!” - a reminder to put yourself forward and not wait for permission.

• Soft skills are a superpower. Communication, observation, knowing when to speak and when to listen, and adapting your approach to different people can be just as valuable as technical capability.

• And do what you say you’re going to do.

A really enjoyable afternoon and a great reminder that career progression is about more than technical capability. Commercial understanding, relationships, confidence and the ability to put yourself forward all play a role.

Thanks to The Urban Developer and MA Financial for creating the space for these conversations, and to everyone Hannah and Annabel had the opportunity to connect with on the day.