Silver Travel Advisor managing director Lisa McAuley says good leaders must face challenges and take opportunities
“If you want something doing, ask a busy person,” quipped my friend at the weekend.
That quote, over the years, has been attributed to Lucille Ball, the American actress, comedian, producer and first female head of a major Hollywood studio. It’s also been attributed to Benjamin Franklin – one assumes also a busy person!
But in truth, the architect of the quote remains anonymous. Its reference as regards myself was that I had ‘squeezed in’ a couple of hours with my friend after she commented that we’d only had WhatsApp conversations rather than face-to-face time because I was so busy.
The same comment then appeared on social media following the Travel Weekly article about my joining Hays Travel as a non-executive director. That in turn was swiftly followed by the announcement of the launch of a new booking service at Silver Travel Advisor close to the one-year anniversary of my acquiring the business. And all of this in play as I said my farewells to my fabulous colleagues at Gold Medal.
Now, I’ve never been one to rest on my laurels and simply be satisfied with achievements. I’m still keen to do much more and add value. But, to put it plainly and simply, I could not do what I do without surrounding myself with great talent and learning from brilliant individuals.
Inspirational leaders
My decision to join Hays was born out of the huge respect I have for Irene and the Hays team.
And my decision to acquire Silver Travel Advisor was swayed by the phenomenal job Debbie Marshall and the team had done over the past 10 years to become the voice of the mature traveller.
Both Irene and Debbie epitomise the adage ‘if you want something doing, ask a busy person’. But, more importantly, they are both busy and effective – and I’m genuinely honoured to have them within my network and professional life.
So let’s talk about being busy, and input versus output. The feeling of two steps forward and three steps back can be draining, and for all of us in the travel industry there’s a sense of déjà vu with each government announcement.
However, you won’t hear me moan. Rather, I’m inclined to talk about the need to be mindful of unproductive effort and of how ineffective and exhausting it can be when things are done for the sake of being done, or because it has always been that way.
Definite article
I read a recent article in Harvard Business Review entitled Good Leaders Know You Can’t Fight Reality. The article talks of acceptance in three areas: firstly, accepting results; secondly, accepting circumstances; and finally, accepting one’s own failings.
The article resonated with me, and I thought it might be useful to share as we approach what we all hope will be a busy peaks booking period. Yet while we hope it will be busy, we have to face reality and accept it may be far from that.
In essence, the Harvard article highlights that acceptance isn’t a weakness and certainly doesn’t mean you have to be happy about or approve of a situation. Rather, acceptance ‘gives you power to move forward in the most effective way possible instead of waging a futile battle against circumstances you can’t control’. It echoes a comment made by the late Jack Welch, the long‑time chief executive of General Electric and an iconic business leader. He once said: “Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be.”
So, as we approach the new year, let’s accept the reality that we’ve been dealing with the pandemic for nearly two years now. Let’s galvanise all our efforts to make the most of what January and February offers. And let’s focus our attention on what opportunities are out there.
I’ve been quoted previously as saying that hope is not a strategy, and still stand by that.
While I’m clearly never going to be happy about the current situation, I am accepting of it and ready to face whatever challenges or opportunities the future presents.