“I felt I could never let myself do anything wrong, which isn’t healthy”

After spending her whole career in the not-for-profit housing sector, Tegan Ryan CMgr MCMI says moving to a for-profit organisation was a big step – but her CMI membership helped her make the transition. 

“Now, I have to consider the role of the investors. The learning from CMI about stakeholder management, how to set expectations and how to communicate with them has been so useful.” 

Level 5 to Chartered

Tegan had been with housing association bpha for 11 years, starting out as a housing officer before training as a maintenance surveyor and moving on to managing her own team. Since January 2025, she has been repairs and maintenance manager with Legal & General’s affordable housing division, overseeing the property management partners and reporting into the executive team, board and investors on the company’s health and safety responsibilities. 

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“It’s a challenging area, as the legislation and the goalposts set by government and local authorities are constantly changing,” Tegan says. “You have to stay absolutely on top of every new thing that’s coming up.” 

She became involved with CMI in 2019, gaining her Level 5 qualification in Management and Leadership before achieving Chartered Manager status the following year.

“I’d become a team leader, but I realised I’d had no opportunity to develop people management skills.” 

Completing the process alongside work was tough, she says, but it was also a huge learning experience. It was often noted by her team whenever she came in with a new idea gained through her studying.

“It was better for everyone…”

CMI also helped to broaden Tegan’s network to include managers from different backgrounds and industries. It also brought some tangible benefits for her team, particularly when it came to roles and functions. This involved assessing the strengths of the various team members and refocusing the workload to make the most of those strengths. 

“It was better for everyone, because people were doing stuff they enjoyed and were good at. It makes for a happier team, which in turn makes them more productive.”

It increased the team’s respect for Tegan as a leader, as well as strengthening the bonds between team members, she says. “It made a massive difference.” 

The learning around delegating has also helped the self-confessed ‘control freak’ adjust to the more strategic nature of her new role. Previously, she was still very operational, but for the first time she found herself more focused on managing processes.