Who can be a successful leader of a highly effective tourism association in 2023?
Leadership has never been more challenging, according to K Michael Haywood.
Who can respond to multiple (real and imagined) crises, balance competing stakeholder demands within a coherent vision, and maintain one’s own mental health while attending to the feelings of others?
It’s a “Good Tourism” Insight. (You too can write a “GT” Insight.)
In the “Good Tourism” Insight Bites question, ‘Who’s the new boss? Asia Pacific tourism industry association seeks leader’ (June 13), the responses provided typical, but far from complete, answers.
Being capable and possessing the so-called attributes of leadership is all well and good, but capability must be put to appropriate and purposeful use.
Because the most effective leaders outperform and strive for excellence, potential candidates have to be judged on how their essential attributes have been applied in regard to setting direction, mobilising individual commitment, and engendering organisational and destination capability.
Their ability (or how they intend) to achieve and deliver results relevant for associations has to be clearly evident. After all, such results can be obtuse and multi-faceted given that members (who only join and participate in associations when they add value to their organisations) have varied, yet precise, expectations and requirements.
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Though no mention was made of the need for succession planning, I found it unusual why respondents seemingly ignored how candidates would have to meet the evolving needs, shifting requirements, and expansive roles of associations.
Associations, regardless of the industry, are having to learn how to:
- Adapt to a tumultuous world of poly-crises;
- Embrace their inter-dependencies;
- Cooperate, co-create, and innovate in forthright and transparent ways;
- Create value; and
- Improve the quality-of-life in the regions they represent.
In this new landscape, the definitions of ‘good’ leadership are continually being re-written. The role of industry associations and civil partnerships is rapidly expanding, as explored in the High Meadows Institute report.
‘It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves’
Today, all leaders of associations are expected to be fluent in addressing an ever-expanding set of concerns, although, as one executive implored: “The external pull is becoming so great — to manage issues and pressures and activism — that to be the CEO in a traditional sense is becoming impossible.”
Clearly the ascent to becoming a leader has become steeper and more challenging.
For prospective leaders, it’s no longer about skills and competencies … Continue reading this “Good Tourism” Insight at The “Good Tourism” Blog.
