Jean Pigott to the Association of Corporate Travel Executives ACTE VIII Conference
Thank you, for that kind introduction. Everyone is considered a TOURIST when they TRAVEL away from home, but not everyone is considered a TOURIST AND TRAVEL LEADER. Today, to a lot of people, tourism and travel is a fuzzy kind of industry. Building cars and trucks are an industry. Computers and software are an industry. But tourism and travel ... ? Tourism and travel is most certainly an industry. Tourism has become a major economic force in North America and around the world. Tourism and travel is considered one of the largest industries in the world and 1 in 7 people on this planet are employed in it. Tourism and travel is expected to be one of the world's fastest growing industries in the next 10 years. -TOURISM IS WORTH $3.4 TRILLION IN GROSS OUTPUT DURING 1995 - ALMOST 1 1 % OF THE WORLD'S GDP -TOURISM AND TRAVEL MEANS 212 MILLION JOBS NOW - WORLD WIDE TOURISM AND TRAVEL IS EXPECTED TO GROW 64% BETWEEN NOW AND THE YEAR 2000 TO 348 MILLION, ALMOST 1 1 % OF THE GLOBAL WORKFORCE -TRAVEL IN CANADA - 13% OF THE GDP, 1.9 MILLION JOBS, $22 BILLION IN TAXES While in the past decades, tourism has largely been shaped by advances in transportation, in future it will be demographic, economic and social changes that will play the largest role. Economic planners and politicians are beginning to understand those numbers. They have identified tourism and travel as an economic development tool with enormous job creation potential. Witness the intense battle to win a World Exposition - for the Olympics - for the G-7 Conference sites. Vancouver - Expo 1986 the world discovered this magnificent city and their economy has never looked back. But it takes far more than having a product, even one that seems unique, to get the most out of this industry. There is intense competition for the tourist and convention market. If your community fails to offer the package that tourists expect, they can, and will, go elsewhere. There are now so many world-wide choices. My background is in long term planning so in my fifth career I have focused my life on Tourism in Canada's Capital. Our tourist product is that we are Canada's Capital we house many of the Country's national institutions and symbols - we create those moments when Canadians feel Canadian (Canada Day) - we are now over a million people - we are Canada r s fourth largest metropolitan area and trying to cope with the largest lay-off in Canadian economic history - 15,000 jobs. That is why we are focusing on tourism. The Region's largest private sector industry, which injects $460 million in the economy each year and employs 27,000 people. Tourism is central to Canada's Capital economic development. Please come as ACTE - or as individuals - we are a green Capital with products in Festivals, Museums and we are very, very green. Many economic planners feel that infrastructure and new products are the answer but this is an industry in which leadership is particularly important. More than most, this is an industry that is only as good as its people. We cannot look at our people as interchangeable cogs in a big machine. They make or break us with our customers. But for them to achieve what we need, we have to achieve what they need - leadership and vision that is demonstrated - everyday, all around them. What does that mean in the travel and tourism industry? Since I am a storyteller by nature, I will draw on my experience, especially in the past few years. And my experience tells me that leaders are not born they are made - mostly self-made. Leaders have a character that is much like a three legged stool:
All three legs must be there. And all must be in balance - or the stool topples. Leadership is not "boss-ship." It is not mere managing. The first woman admiral in the U.S. Navy, the late Grace Hopper said, "You manage things but you lead people." Leaders are people who are determined to do the right things. Managers are people who are content to do things right. I believe the first leg of leadership is that mix of energy, drive and ambition in people that creates a vision for all around them. When I speak of energy, I mean - feeling that you know the person wants to climb "mountains' Their eyes and body language are full of energy and enjoyment of the challenge. They just can't wait to start a project. They are having fun at a serious task. When I arrived at the National Capital Commission, I asked about the business we were in and where we were going. People said - I plant tulips; I maintain parkways; I make ice on the Canal; and so on. My task was to articulate a uniting vision to each one of those people - first and foremost they were meant to build a capital for every Canadian. They were capital builders. (Cathedral Story) A tourist visiting a great city was walking by a construction site. He asked the first workman what he was doing? "Framing windows" he said. The second workman said he was building walls. And the third workman said "building a Cathedral". You can do the same in your own operation. You should be able to explain yours in no more than 1 or 2 simple sentences and in a way that engages people. Dwight Eisenhower once said, "Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done, because he or she wants to do it." He was right. You want a vision that is so compelling yet so simple that people immediately want to be partof it, want to contribute to it. There is no more powerful motivator on Earth - money and status don't even come close. When you have an organization or a group behind a clearly defined vision or purpose, it has power. The second leg of the stool starts with competence and expertise. And those are continually improved through an openness to learning. For me, this leg is best demonstrated in a leader's ability to build teams. Picture rowing crews skimming the water, each person pulling on their oar in perfect timing - moving through the water with precision. Companies and organizations - small or large - can do exactly the same. Each person knowing his or her role - the synchronisation is precise and measured - the coxswain sees ahead and directs with a clear voice - a winning formula. Real leaders build their careers by developing the people around and under them. In the long run they foster the same leadership qualities in people who perform effectively and to the highest ethical standards. Let me illustrate by taking a lesson from nature, courtesy of a story I read in a Conflict Resolution Paper. I'm certain all of you have watched the sky in Spring or Fall and have watched the skem of large Canadian geese travelling either north or south honking - an awesome sight, knowing they will travel 3,000 miles to their destination. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an "uplift" for the bird following. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71 percent greater flying power than if the bird flew alone. People who share a common direction and a sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are travelling on the thrust of one another. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the "lifting power if of the bird immediately in front. If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go - and be willing to accept their help as well as give ours to the others. When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at the point position. It pays to take turns doing the hard task and share leadership; with people as with geese, we are always interdependent. The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. ,i>We need to make sure our honking from behind is encouraging not something else! When a goose gets sick or is wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again or dies. Then they launch out on their own, with another formation or catch up with the flock. If we have as much sense as geese, we too will stand by each other in difficult times as well as in calm ones. A good team leader meets one essential need that every worker has - a desire for respect. People want responsibility that allows them to grow. People want to be treated with the clear indication that what they have to say 11 matters". A leader understands this and makes it work for everyone. A leader knows that people are routinely capable of more than they believe. A leader grows people. A leader also has the brains to listen to the full range of messages that people send out. They work on open two-way communication. If you are really listening, you will hear when you are making a mistake. You will see it on the faces of your team or in their body language. Even the greatest leader will make the odd error - so check your ego and title at the door when meeting with your team! If you have made a mistake, admit it. It is a chance to show there is more than one way to learn. It also never hurts to thank people for pointing it out. It only encourages them to do the same in the future. It underlines their importance to the team. In a meeting there are always two agenda - the formal one and, the informal unwritten one. To solve the problems on the formal agenda one must always be sensitive and alert to not only the spoken words but must also be sensitive to body and facial language. (The Hydro Board Story) The third leg of the stool is the under-rated one of reflection, integrity and moral fibre. So much of leadership is the ability to see the big picture, even as it changes. To do that leaders need time for reflection - to know when and how to spend time alone. Call it what you like - personal think time or meditation. This does not mean reading the Harvard Business Review on Sunday. It often means doing something that brings balance to an entire life. You know the verse from Ecclesiastes. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." We live in a time in which cellular phones, all-news television and seven-day a week shopping have broken down the traditional boundaries between work and reflection. People no longer have a day of rest. I believe there is a price to be paid for this. (THE DIFFERENCE IN MY FA THER'S LIFE, MY LIFE AND MY SONS. THE STORY OF SUNDAY) Wise leaders take time to sit back and reflect. It's good physically and mentally. Think of it this way. The way to make sure you're not pushing up daisies sooner than you'd like - is by stopping to smell the roses now. Reflection is not just about seeking knowledge, but self-knowledge in its ethical sense. It helps a leader consider and act appropriately on the ethical issues that arise in any business. Those matter. A leader models moral and ethical standards whether he or she knows it or not. And no matter what the size of the organization, the people on the loading dock can usually tell you whether those people on the top floor have standards which are high or low. They know if the folks in the front office cut corners or live up to the trust of others. Conclusion Let me conclude with one point. Leadership has nothing to do with your place in the organization chart. There must be leaders throughout an organization - not just at the top. The climate must be there to encourage people to be leaders to grow people in what ever area they work. In this day and age, you can't think for people. You haven't the time to do that. You can't tell them what to do. They probably won't listen. It is creating the win-win atmosphere in which people work with you because they know they will be better off for it. If you can do that, you will be a leader. I once read a famous professor's list of ways to become a good leader. Let me close with that advice. Be yourself - figure out what you are good at focus on your strengths - surround yourself with people who care and have energy - treat them the way you want to be treated - switch from macho to being a maestro - identify one or two dreams or directions - ask your coworkers how to get there - listen hard - get out of their way - cheer them on. Be a contributor and you will make a difference. Remember the geese - you too can fly high and go long distances in life by flying with a team. Thank You
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