If performance matters more than privilege then prove it

New research shows investors still perceive privately educated CEOs as a “safer bet” despite no evidence of stronger performance outcomes, says Vincent Keaveny

Last week at the House of Lords, senior leaders from across financial services gathered to launch Progress Together’s new campaign: Making the Invisible Visible.

The campaign focuses on a challenge British business can no longer afford to ignore – the invisible class barriers that continue to shape who progresses, who gets sponsored and who ultimately reaches senior leadership.

The timing could not be more important.

Just a couple of weeks ago, new research reignited debate around class and leadership after suggesting investors still perceive privately educated CEOs as a “safer bet” despite no evidence of stronger performance outcomes. Whether intentional or not, it exposed something many professionals quietly recognise: too often, people are still judged not only on what they deliver, but on whether they look, sound and behave like traditional leadership material.

For business leaders, that should be a flashing warning sign.

At a time when firms are under pressure to improve productivity, compete globally, manage technological disruption and attract talent, Britain cannot afford to waste capable people hiding in plain sight.

Progress Together’s research across more than 210,000 employees in UK financial services shows that talented employees from lower socio-economic backgrounds continue to progress more slowly into senior roles despite no link to job performance.

In other words, performance is not always enough.

That creates both a human and commercial cost.

Invisible barriers

The barriers today are rarely explicit. They are often subtle, cumulative and difficult to measure. They appear in who feels comfortable speaking in certain rooms. Who understands the unwritten rules. Who gets informal sponsorship. Who is seen as “polished”, “executive” or leadership material. Who feels pressure to soften an accent, hide part of their background or adapt their behaviour in order to belong.

Individually, these moments can seem small. Collectively, they shape careers.

Financial services has made significant progress on many aspects of diversity over the past decade. But socio-economic background remains one of the least visible and least understood barriers to progression. It is also one of the most commercially important.

Because this is not simply about fairness. It is about whether Britain genuinely believes in performance not privilege.

The firms that will succeed in the future will not necessarily be those with the most familiar profiles around the boardroom table. They will be the firms best able to recognise potential, unlock talent and encourage a broader range of thinking, challenge and experience.

In an increasingly volatile world, groupthink is not just limiting – it is commercially damaging.

Leadership teams disconnected from the realities of customers, communities and the wider economy become a strategic liability. Innovation suffers. Decision-making narrows. Trust weakens.

By contrast, firms that widen access to sponsorship, opportunity and leadership pathways strengthen not only their culture, but their competitiveness.

That is why this campaign matters now.

Making the Invisible Visible is not about ideology, quotas or assigning blame. It is about leadership. It is about asking whether our systems genuinely reward merit consistently – and whether talented people are still being overlooked because they do not fit inherited assumptions about leadership.

Over the next 12 months, the campaign will bring together firms, policymakers, regulators and employees to share practical insight, lived experience and examples of meaningful progress.

And importantly, we want more senior leaders to speak openly about their own journeys.

One of the striking themes from the campaign trailer launched last week was how many senior leaders still remember moments where they felt they did not belong – because of accent, background, confidence, money or simply not understanding the unwritten rules of elite professional environments.

Those stories matter because they make progression pathways visible to others coming behind them. They also force organisations to confront uncomfortable truths about how talent is recognised, developed and rewarded.

Britain’s financial services sector remains one of this country’s greatest strengths. But if we want it to remain globally competitive, innovative and trusted, we must become far better at recognising talent in all its forms.

If performance really matters more than privilege, now is the time to prove it.

Vincent Keaveny CBE is chair of Progress Together and former Lord Mayor of London