Simon’s Blog: My perspective on the first international conference of its kind….

Last month I was part of the first International Women in Travel and Tourism Forum. The Forum was held in Iceland. It was COLD and the weather disrupted things a bit, but it is the most gender balanced country in the world, so Iceland was the ideal setting for the discussion that was about to unfold – and it was a discussion.

The format of the Forum was not what I had expected and it was great…. most of the topics were covered by a panel of speakers and a moderator who guided the discussion initially and then opened it to the room to seek other perspectives and questions. The whole Forum was highly engaging and participative and this was the key to its strength, no-one just had the answers, it was an exploration of views and what has worked for some, while they’ve been addressing the challenges we all face when seeking to move gender balance forward. Additionally, the fact that the Forum was delayed by 24 hours due to the weather disrupting travel turned out to be a bonus as the Carnival UK attendees had a team dinner on the first night and a discussion that otherwise might not have happened.

So what did I get from it all?

There were many topics covered, but for me, three that stood out were:

1. Inclusive Leadership
2. Recruitment & Career Paths
3. Bringing Men to the Discussion

Inclusive Leadership: there was a sense that women feel they need to conform to masculine norms in leadership, characterised by Command & Control*, norms that many don’t feel so comfortable with. Traits that were seen as working for inclusive leadership included empathy, understanding, being human, collaboration and humility. With businesses becoming more complex and multi-layered, being inclusive and collaborative with real diversity of thought was seen as becoming more essential.

Recruitment & Career Paths: Gender balanced candidate lists and interview panels were seen as best practice and proven to work. This is great as I know these are areas we have been working hard on in Carnival House. Once in work however, there was a lot of discussion on maternity leave, returning to work, the cost & logistics of childcare and the transparency of the career / promotion process – with concern around the fact that men can be far more confident than women to apply for promotion.

Bringing Men to the Discussion: This isn’t a topic for women, it’s a topic for all of us. Time and again the topic of men being a big part of the debate came up and Iceland’s First Lady also made it one of the main points of her keynote speech. Not only was it felt that men needed to feel comfortable to engage on this topic, but that they also have an important role in mentoring / coaching.

So, now we’re back from Iceland and thawed out again. The connections I made there have already resulted in two really helpful meetings that I wouldn’t otherwise have had and my head is still spinning with the variety of thoughts that I now have as a result of being immersed in this topic for two days. There may be a long way to go, but I for one think it’s an exciting time and look forward to supporting the progress I know we will continue to make.

*Command and Control is a leadership style. It has roots in the military and is still a dominant force. It’s one where the senior manager is in command and therefore in control of employees.