Leadership Spotlight - Episode Two
We’re excited to continue the Leadership Spotlight podcast series with James King of Unison - an inspiring leader transforming how social housing is delivered in Victoria. In this episode, James reflects on the evolution of his leadership since stepping into the not-for-profit sector, the power of values-driven partnerships, and the profound impact that safe, stable housing can have on a person’s life. From bold reforms to award-winning projects and a renewed focus on people-first decision-making, James offers rich insights into what it truly means to lead with purpose.
Q: What drew you to Unison and how has your leadership style evolved since 2020?
I was in property development, and property development is driven by making money. I realised I wasn’t overly impressed or proud of the product. I think it dawned on me, I was putting out a product that I probably wasn't overly impressed with or proud of and I wanted to feel better about where I could see my value have an impact. At Unison, I underestimated just how good I was going to feel about putting roofs over people’s heads that needed it most.
Then in terms of the evolution of my leadership, probably in a similar vein, being driven by a bottom line profit driven business [in previous roles] and coming into an organisation that's a non-for-profit, which is confusing because we have to generate a profit, my leadership has become more well-rounded. I don’t measure success by how much profit we make, I measure success on a range of metrics around impact and outcomes for tenants, staff and the like.
Q: How do you approach partnerships with other organisations?
My approach is direct. It’s not a transaction to build houses or build our balance sheet. Partnerships are very much built on relationships, respect, and aligned outcomes. If something goes wrong, I can pick up the phone to the CEO and say this is what's going wrong, and this is what we need to do to fix it. Both organisations or the parties to the partnership may have different drivers, but the outcomes need to be really aligned and our approach to achieving those outcomes needs to be aligned. So, we're all in the same team, working in the same direction. The partnerships I don’t pursue are the lopsided ones or where risk allocation isn’t appropriate.
Q: Can you share a collaboration that’s had a strong impact on tenants?
Make Room is the most complex project we’ve delivered. Partners included state government, City of Melbourne, Ngwala and CoHealth. We adapted a heritage building for the most vulnerable in the CBD. If we can save one person from a lifetime of disadvantage and homelessness, that alone is success. I'm really pleased that it's been operational, and the immediate community has been nothing but supportive of it. That's a testament to my staff, the stakeholders and ensuring that people understand what success looks like.
Q: What reforms would strengthen the housing and homelessness system?
Homelessness and housing are quite segregated and disjointed. Better integration of housing and supports can achieve fantastic outcomes. Support funding and housing funding are often separate, which creates tension. Consolidation of the sector or better integration of housing and supports from a policy perspective can really achieve fantastic outcomes. Focus on reform in the policy space, better integration of housing and support. On supporting outcomes rather than numbers. A lot of people don't realise in the housing and support space, when a tenancy fails, it has a significant impact on the social impact where that person may, or more than likely, fall back into homelessness. A commitment to tenancy sustainment would do wonders.
Q: What has been a career highlight at Unison?
52 Napier Street in Footscray. I could really see an opportunity to achieve something amazing there. It was for 100% social housing. It won excellence in affordable housing, then overall project excellence across Victoria. It was probably one of the most rewarding moments of my career to date. I had the pleasure of welcoming our first resident into that building a long-term rooming house client. This gentleman had been living in a rooming house for 20 years. I took him into his one-bedroom apartment, he said “Oh what's that room in there for?" He'd always had shared bathroom and shared kitchen facilities before that. It was that moment when I realized just how much of an impact that it has. And probably at that moment that I would never go back to an exclusive for-profit space.
Q: Unison’s strategy commits to being an employer of choice. How are you doing that?
We shifted from “client first” to “organisation first.” If I look after my staff, they look after our clients. A third of our strategy is about our people. We invested in wellbeing, restructured to have a Director of People, and created a strong culture. 98% of staff would recommend Unison as a place to work.
Q: What’s your vision for Unison in the next five years?
I don’t look at Unison as just a housing organisation. Putting a roof over someone’s head is the first step. I’d like us to address other elements of wellbeing, it could be health, education, a stronger focus on employment. Allowing a person to age in one place is something that I'm keen on. That's something that I'm excited about and people that may read this and think stick to your netting but thinking about how we can do things differently gets me out of bed. Change can sometimes be a little frightening, but we really welcome change at Unison.
Q: One CEO to another: “What do you do to make time for yourself at work, and what do you spend it on?”
My EA is very protective of my calendar, and we intentionally allocate time for me to think. That often involves sitting down in front of my whiteboard and it's often thought that’s not given to operations. That's the strategic thought. I've only just introduced it in the last year. And it's had a profound impact on my ability to give foresight to where we're going as an organisation rather than being reactionary. So that's what I do for me in the organisation is making myself time to think.
Q: And what's your question for our next CEO?
What's a mistake you're glad you made?
Q: Ok... now we need to know James, what’s the mistake you’re glad you made?
I think it's important for CEOs to consider the people element of things. And when I made a mistake, I didn't - I looked at data and made a decision that impacted my staff via a restructure here and I shouldn't have. I should have given that a lot more consideration at the time around the impact of it.
So now, the people element in our strategy, and all decisions we make, the first consideration is what's the impact on my people or the people that we serve, rather than what's the metric that we're trying to achieve in the outcome. That's the biggest mistake that I'm glad I made. It obviously impacted staff. I owned up and said, “I messed up, and I won’t make that mistake again.” It taught me never to forget that behind every number is a person. Now and for the rest of my career that'll be at the forefront and the first consideration in every decision is the impact on people.