Originally posted by Chris Chan a.k.a Krispy, part of our Flight Centre Travel Group Alumni, on LinkedIn.
I caught up recently with Kathy Clifford and we talked about how grateful we were to receive some of the leadership training we did as part of Flight Centre Travel Group's (FCTG) internal leadership development programs.
Off the back of that chat, I thought I might share the 3 Leadership lessons I learnt from FCTG:
The performance and effectiveness of the team is the team leader's responsibility.
This is where the buck stops; if the team is not performing, it's the team leader's responsibility to resolve it. Of course, support is provided by the business. Still, it's the responsibility of the team leader to diagnose the challenge the team is facing and implement actions to help the team overcome it. There were other leaders to help with this too.
This is something I loved and benefited a lot from! Every team leader is tasked to have a one-hour 1 on 1 conversation with each team member once a month to see how we can help the team member. These conversations are open to whatever the person wants to talk about. We could talk about work, career or even a random subject like basketball if that's what the team member wanted to discuss. The idea is to give the time and space to listen to what the team members need, whether related to work or not. I remember my first 1 on 1. I was blown away that I was allowed to bring my agenda, and it wasn't about reviewing how I was going. That can be part of the agenda, but at the same time, we could lock in a separate time to discuss that. That 1 hour was all about the team members and what they needed. I still maintain this with my team regardless of what business I'm in, as it allows me to serve them.
I used to think leadership is something you're born with. However, FCTG showed me that it was a skill you can build. I'm not a natural leader, and it opened my eyes that I could be a leader if I choose to work on it.
FCTG gave me the fundamentals that started my leadership journey, and I'm grateful for that investment. It's still an ongoing journey, and I'm grateful I have structures and people in place to help me continue growing as a leader.
To wrap up, I think this quote by Stephen Covey summarises one of my key takeaways from FCTG well: "Leadership is a choice, not a position.".