Women in Tourism: Leadership Event Round-Up
Earlier this month we hosted a networking event at the stylish Radisson Collection Hotel on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, and heard from a range of speakers all about Leadership.
We heard from David Cochrane, Chief Executive, Hospitality Industry Trust Scotland, Pip Haydock, Director, The2Gether Partnership, Catherine Bowie, Trainer of People 1st Step Up Programme/Owner of CBTS and Julia MacGregor, our #YOYP2018 Women in Tourism Board Member.
We learnt that leadership means different things to different people, and comes in a many different forms. It was a fantastic evening of discussion, insight and networking. Here are some of our WIT Board Members’ key takeaways from the night – from our speakers and our audience:
- Did you know there are 245,000 people working in tourism in Scotland?
- If you are good enough you’re old enough – great words to live by!
- Don’t let anyone rush you – work to your own timelines, and take time to watch this fantastic video, ‘Before You Feel Pressure’ by Jay Shetty: https://youtu.be/Xdk2DFbjKRo–
- Own’ your personal development – it’s no-one’s responsibility but yours.
- When it comes to sales, tourism is different, due to the nature of the product you sell it or it’s gone – not like a manufacturing business that can hold stock – it’s more immediate, more demanding.
- The skills we need to thrive are changing, and HIT Scotland is taking time to develop their programmes to suit an ever-changing industry.
- “When was the last time you did some personal development?” – this is an increasing a question being asked at interviews, employers value applicants who can demonstrate investment in personal development.
- Employers are also looking for real knowledge that can drive the business forward, rather than just experience that has been gained because people have been around for a long time.
- The Millenial workforce are attracted to flexible, changing roles. They are multi-taskers, and want to be Brand Ambassadors.
- Millenials may have “side hustles” – 20 – 30% of the British workforce have a second job now.
- Undertaking personal development can be seen as “selfish”, and may be more challenging for those in the tourism sector, who can tend to put others’ needs first.
- Putting project teams together using the “diagonal slice” model engages different parts of the business and across different levels.
- “Reverse mentoring” – younger junior women mentoring older senior women is just as important as traditional mentoring.
Did you pick up on anything else? Share it with us over on twitter or facebook.
