STAYING TO LEAD
For a long time, I thought that stepping away from frontline delivery in construction meant stepping away from the industry itself. From everything I had trained for and built my career on. Quantity surveying, contract management, governance and problem solving under pressure are not just skills I use. They are part of who I am professionally. What I have come to realise is that staying in construction does not always mean staying in the same role. Sometimes, it means changing how you contribute so you can continue to lead, develop and challenge yourself, while helping the industry evolve.
Across construction and civil engineering, there is a growing unease about sustainability. Long hours, constant commercial pressure and an expectation of permanent availability are still widely accepted as normal. For many professionals, particularly women, this creates a quiet but powerful question; how long can I keep doing this?
Recent research reported by PBCToday showed that more than 20% of built environment professionals have considered leaving the industry altogether. Not changing roles. Not moving employers. Leaving. That figure should concern every professional institution and employer. It tells us this is not about individual resilience. It is about how the industry is structured and how we develop and support people over the long term.
Staying within construction was non-negotiable for me because leadership comes with responsibility. As chair of the Women’s Network and on the pathway to presidency at CICES, visibility is not optional. When women in leadership quietly disappear, the message to the next generation is clear and damaging.
Engaging with industry leaders, educators, engineers, surveyors and organisations to understand where skills genuinely break down has forced me to look beyond individual projects and focus on systemic capability.
Women need to see that career evolution does not mean career exit. They need to see leaders who adapt, stretch themselves and remain visible while actively challenging how the industry operates. That belief has been strongly shaped by leaders such as past-president Alison Watson MBE, whose work through Class of Your Own demonstrates what it means to challenge construction properly. Rather than accepting traditional routes and barriers, Alison has reshaped access, education and opportunity across the sector. That is not stepping away from construction. That is taking responsibility for its future.
My move into the role of industry engagement director at Built Intelligence was not about stepping back. It was about stepping into a role that would stretch me in new ways and allow me to influence the industry at a broader level. I will be honest. I underestimated how much this role would challenge me. Not because the work is unfamiliar, but because it requires a different way of thinking. Engaging with industry leaders, educators, engineers, surveyors and organisations to understand where skills genuinely break down has forced me to look beyond individual projects and focus on systemic capability.
That challenge has been energising. I am developing again. Learning again. Being pushed outside familiar patterns of delivery and into conversations about how we equip people properly for the roles they are already doing. That has had a real and positive impact on my motivation and my wellbeing. Being challenged constructively is very different from being worn down operationally.
Built Intelligence (BI) exists to strengthen capability across construction and civil engineering by supporting better decision-making, not by replacing professional judgement. The focus is on helping people apply what they already know more consistently, more confidently and at the right time. In my role at BI, I work with organisations, professional bodies and practitioners to connect technology, training and real-world delivery. That connection matters. Too often, these elements sit in isolation. Training is developed without reference to live projects. Systems are implemented without considering behaviour. Knowledge exists, but it is inaccessible when decisions actually need to be made.
Training is often treated as academic, optional or something people will return to when they have time. In reality, commercial managers, project managers and surveyors rarely have that luxury. If learning and support do not fit around real work, they are ignored, regardless of quality or intent.
When people understand their responsibilities and options more clearly, decisions improve, pressure reduces and outcomes become more predictable. That is good for individuals, employers and the profession as a whole.
This is where the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors has a critical role to play. Civil engineering surveying is not defined by a single skillset. It spans commercial management, contract administration, project controls, risk, cost, planning, procurement and professional judgement across the asset lifecycle. The skills gap we face is therefore not just a commercial management issue. It is a capability issue across the profession.
Civil engineering surveyors are expected to operate confidently at the intersection of technical understanding, contractual frameworks, risk management, governance and ethical decision-making. These are not specialist add-ons. They are core professional competencies. Yet too often, development in these areas is inconsistent, overly theoretical or disconnected from how people actually work in practice.
Training and development need to reflect the reality of modern construction and infrastructure delivery. They must be practical, applied and embedded into real work, not treated as optional extras or postponed indefinitely because teams are too busy. When professionals understand their roles, responsibilities and decision-making frameworks better, pressure reduces, confidence increases and outcomes become more predictable. That benefits individuals, employers and the industry as a whole.
CICES is demonstrating that it takes this challenge seriously. The appointment of Rachel Hames as education and outreach manager is a clear and deliberate statement of intent. Rachel’s plans to strengthen education pathways, expand outreach and engage earlier with schools and young people are exactly what the profession needs. Addressing the skills gap cannot start at chartership alone. It must begin earlier, by improving awareness, access and understanding of what civil engineering surveying actually is and why it matters.
However, this cannot be delivered by the institution alone. If we are serious about the future of the profession, industry leaders and experienced practitioners must actively support this work. That means engaging with outreach initiatives, contributing expertise, opening doors to schools and early careers and helping shape education that reflects real practice, not outdated assumptions. Professional bodies can set direction, but the profession itself must step forward to deliver it.
Changing how I work has not reduced my commitment to construction. It has strengthened it. I am more engaged, more motivated and more optimistic about the di›erence we can make if we are willing to challenge outdated assumptions about careers, training and progression.
I have not left construction. I have changed how I serve it. If we want to retain women, close the skills gap and build a profession that people can commit to for the long term, we must broaden our definition of what a successful career looks like. Stepping outside the frontline does not mean stepping away from the industry. Sometimes, it is exactly how you stay in and help change it.