By Rita Pagan
The true grit of a leader is not how they perform during the good times, but rather how they display emotional strength, courage, and professionalism during the most trying times. It is impossible to demonstrate resilience unless you have gone through difficult times.
I’ve been in that position previously while working a 3,000-person meeting. Our host hotel suffered a kitchen fire and more than 500 attendees, staff, and board members were relocated. Within hours, we had to pack our rooms, climb stairs in the dark, notify attendees, and move an awards dinner that was planned for that evening off-property. It was a whirlwind day, but we pulled it off and with little mayhem—at least from the attendees’ perspective! It defined me and my ability to work under pressure and be calm, collected, and through about the steps that had to be taken.
In this day and age, it’s imperative to have a contingency plan for just about anything—for your office, an event, and even within your own household. Who do you call, where do you go, and what sort of communications need to be put in place?
If you carefully evaluate every mistake, every “fire,” every obstacle, you will uncover a lesson that will be important for you to learn.
Have you saved the date for IPMI’s 2020 Leadership Summit? We’ll be talking resiliency and much more, Oct 8-9 in Raleigh, N.C. Stay tuned for details.
Rita Pagan is IPMI’s events and exhibits manager.