Three Leadership Tips From ASTA Global Speaker

Photo: stuartlloydcohen

Stuart Lloyd Cohen, Chief Motivation Officer at his own consulting company, will speak at the American Society of Travel Agents Global Convention this month. In a recent webinar he provided a preview of some of his thoughts on leadership, which will be the subject of a special education session on influencing others and leadership on Wednesday, Sept. 28.

1. Everybody is an influencer, therefore everybody is a leader.
The age of vertical hierarchies are over. Companies who don’t promote leadership laterally, throughout an organization, will struggle to provide the kind of customer service that wins in today’s marketplace.

Vertical leadership “gives you the impression that things are less important as you go downward,” but given that frontline travel industry employees are frequently the closest to a customer, that’s not true, Cohen said. “Everybody in the organization played a crucial role in influencing that customer to buy.

“Whether you are a home-based agent, and you are it, or you own an agency and have team members, big company, small company, you need to understand “Where do you fit in” as a leader? Does the consumer feel the greatest influence possible from your organization?”

2. Effective leaders are positive influencers.
How you look at negative situations is important to the whole organization. For example, “You want to be a problem solver,” Cohen said, not someone who complains, or promotes complaining.

“Positive environments have fewer sick days, and people take the maximum number of vacation days” because effective leaders create a positive environment.

3. Titles are empty promises.
A person’s title doesn’t define who they are in relationship to creating a positive experience for the customer, Cohen said, and having expectations about coworkers because of the title they hold could inhibit delivering that winning experience. Therefore, Cohen said, titles shouldn’t influence how colleagues interact.

Furthermore, achieving a rank is only a moment in a career timeline. The promoted or new employee needs to see their job description as a starting point for much greater things. “Once someone achieves a title, they should be working to exceed expectations of that role, like they did in their previous position,” he said.