As a leader, I always try to take note of everyone’s superpowers. We all come from different career backgrounds and it’s important that everyone can use their skills to contribute. It’s quite a balancing act working together towards a common goal with so many different personality types. What makes it easier is that we all share a common vision towards growth.
It’s a high-energy team and no two days are the same. Here’s a glimpse into what it’s like leading a retail sales team at the biggest Flight Centre store in the world.
One of my top priorities as a leader is to make all of the decisions based on what’s best for both our people and customers. In our job, we have challenges every single day – whether they be with customers or travel arrangements that didn’t quite go to plan. It’s important to find a middle ground where my team feels supported and we can continue to provide great customer service.
With that in mind, we try to tackle any problems that arise in-store, seeing what knowledge base our team can bring to solving it. If we can’t, there’s a lot of support at Head Office and they’re always willing to help out where they can.
Rewarding my team for great work is also key to keeping everyone motivated. For example, Flight Centre puts on a big party once a year after the financial year ends for the most successful teams and consultants across the globe. Everyone gets flown into a destination somewhere in the world. In the past, we’ve had the chance to travel to Las Vegas, Berlin and Hawaii. There’s always great entertainment, too. We had Calvin Harris one year and Bill Clinton delivered a speech to us once as well!
Attending exciting events like this is a chance to celebrate our successes as a team and is a highlight of anyone’s career. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of what’s on offer to Flight Centre staff!
But it’s not just the big annual ball that we focus on - small wins are just as important. In my team, I always ensure those small achievements that each contribute to a larger goal are recognised in a thoughtful and positive way.
As for my own career, working for Flight Centre has helped me become a great leader. I moved to Australia seven years ago and I could barely speak English when I arrived. I started as a novice consultant with no sales skills. But gradually as I gained confidence and skills, I ascended through from assistant manager to team leader to now being a general manager of the largest Flight Centre in the world.
Flight Centre has encouraged my growth and always made me feel like my goals in the company were within reach. I have received world-class and unparalleled training throughout. Now, I work hard to implement the supportive culture Flight Centre prides itself on and I can confidently say it’s a great place to work for anyone who is hoping to expand their career in travel.
If you’re keen to be part of our team and expand your travel horizons, take a look at our available opportunities.