On the 8th
November 2016 the third Women in Travel Meetup took place within the context of
international, B2B travel trade fair, World Travel Market (London).
Female and
male attendees alike from places as diverse as India, Kenya, Switzerland, US
and many others shared their stories over an afternoon that included two panel
debates, one on leadership and one on entrepreneurship, group mentoring
sessions heaving with women looking for advice from insightful and experienced
industry mentors and networking.
I organise this
event with the aim to build an international, supportive community of women and
like-minded men who can share their stories, challenges, opportunities as well
as mentor and learn from each other. It
will never cease to amaze me how much energy, positive mindset, collaboration
and friendship filled the room on the day or indeed the buzz on social media
that followed. As I reflect on some of
the stories and the wisdom that was shared I cannot help but being amazed at
the quality of work that is being done across the world, as well the sheer determination,
the enthusiasm and desire to make a difference that I have heard on and off
stage! Some of the key points that I
brought home from this year’s event are relevant to all women and worth sharing
with a wider audience. I am sure they will resonate with many of you reading
this article, whether you work in services, manufacturing or agriculture!
#1 WORK AND CAREER
There was
an agreement that, as women, we must take ownership of our careers. Ultimately
no corporate will now a day present you with a plan as to how you may get to be
the Chief Executive! This is true for men and women alike according to Giles
Hawke, MD of CosmosTours who spoke on the leadership panel, but if you are a
woman, and especially one in her fifties, it is possibly even more important to
ensure that you keep your skills up to date, relevant and refreshed. Another
speaker, Rachel O’Reilly of Kuoni UK, mentioned how her mother had retrained
and specialised in her 50’s continuing to add valuable knowledge to her
experience. Ageism appears to be an issues particularly affecting women, with a
member of the audience stating that at 45 she had been deemed too old by her
employer to become Cruise Director. The
travel industry has historically enjoyed and perhaps supported a ‘young’ image,
yet ‘silver travellers’ – as we were reminded by members of the audience – are
a growing opportunity and besides, we all expect to live longer and are
healthier and are active for much longer. So what exactly does ‘old’ mean?
#2 FEMALE LEADERSHIP
So what
stops women from rising to the top in the travel industry? Well, more and more
women are on their way up, but there is still a lot to do! Self-confidence was
highlighted on and off stage as a key issue for women, hand in hand with what
is known as ‘imposter syndrome’, the feeling of being a fraud, of not being
deserving of the role one has achieved.
It makes perfect sense that women appear to grow in confidence with age
and experience but at the same time that is when they begin to encounter
ageism… There is no doubt that women have a lot to offer to the industry at all
ages. It is a question of talent as mentioned before and we only needed to look
around the room to find talent-a-plenty!
When
talking about leadership, ‘authenticity’ was a concept women kept referring
into in conversation and in the debates. Knowing yourself and being yourself
are key to success, key to deciding what success is for you and how you wish to
live your life. ‘Do I have to grow and seek funding as entrepreneur?’ asked
Natalia Komis on stage. Yes, that is kind of expected of you as entrepreneur
but can I instead give myself permission to stay who I am and measure success
by doing things I love. These words resonated with many in the audience…
#3 LEARNING AND TALENT
We heard
throughout the afternoon that learning is critical to improve ourselves as
professionals, as leaders, as human being. One member of the audience made the
point during the discussion that ultimately if one is passionate about her work
or about an idea or product, one has just to go for it, and either win or
learn. Failure as such was not even contemplated!
When it
comes to talent it was said that it needs to be continuously nurtured and
developed. Perhaps more could be done in this industry to ensure talent is
retained and maximised. The point was also made that talent should be as
diverse as possible because this is what organisations need to succeed in
today’s fast pacing and ever changing world…and talent rises above every other
distinction, it is not dependent on race, cultural background, religion, sexual
orientation and the likes!
#4 ROLE MODELS
It was
interesting that all speakers in the first panel mentioned that at the start of
their career they had been inspired by some leading women who acted as their
mentors and supporters. This is a critical point because we all need to be able
to look up to somebody and we all need to see ‘people like us’ in positions we
aspire to achieve, in order to believe that we too can get there one day. Role
models can be found anywhere and honestly speaking throughout the afternoon I
engaged with many women that in one aspect or another could be deemed as role
models.
#5 LIFE AFFIRMING COURAGE
Many women
shared stories about the obstacles and hurdles they had encountered along the
way to leadership, entrepreneurship and success. It takes incredible resilience
and courage to sell your house to start a business; to denounce sexual
harassment in the workplace, to attempt to cross the ocean on a canoe, or put
yourself forward for a senior position when you are possibly the only female
candidate. But that is also the only way to go and women recognise this and do
not sit still, they do what’s needed. ‘You just get on with it’ said somebody
from the audience…and that perfectly summed it all up!
[A slightly amended version of this article was also published on the HRZone magazine and can be viewed here ]
Leadership and entrepreneurship both the factors are simultaneously equivalent with each other. Therefore from different stories, we learn some basic things about both leadership and entrepreneurship. Here also from this article, we came to know about certain facts regarding leadership by female travelers. This is really a beneficial post for us and we definitely learn some basic tips on leadership. Thanks for this wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteLeadership Coach
thank you Eric for reading my posts...
ReplyDeleteMaking use of an online travel agency has its benefits. For one, you don't have to go through the hassle of visiting a booking office in person. And two, you can often save money if you book your travels online. jackson hole webcam
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for keep this information. Avio karte split
ReplyDeleteA lot of travelers skip the city because it’s expensive. There’s no denying that Stockholm is really expensive compared to other cities around Europe. www.stockholmfreetour.com
ReplyDeleteMuch obliged you all that much to share these connections. Will look at this.. look at this web-site
ReplyDelete