Reflecting on the many insightful sessions that took place. Reflecting upon the four ports of call we were able to explore; the fun social events; the networking and finally, reflecting on having an astronaut as a keynote speaker.
An astronaut! I had never met an astronaut in person before and am unlikely to ever again. Colonel Commander Chris Hadfield is, however, like no other astronaut. This is an astronaut who also became famous for playing a rendition of Bowie’s Space Oddity, while floating around in space.
The colonel gave us an account of his time in space, including how the crew had planned for as many eventualities as possible that could happen back on earth during their five months orbiting space. This included rehearsing how they would support one another were one of the crew to lose family or friends back home, as they knew the odds of this happening were pretty high.
Unfortunately his Russian colleague, Roman Romanenko, received the call. No planning could actually have prepared them on how you feel when a family member passes away and how you have no control on not being able to leave the shuttle.
I started to think about how we currently manage risk in business. Whether in a world that is changing so dramatically, be it for security, geopolitical, climate and generational changes — are we thinking about risk in the same way?
Does our mindset need to adapt? Do we need to be thinking about the worse possible scenario and how we would manage ourselves accordingly in this situation?
During the conference, I launched Advantage Gateway2 and Advantage Holidays. Two significant investments in technology and product, supporting the changing needs of our membership. Broadening our technological capabilities and delivering to members the products relevant to today’s market place.
There are three little words that have resonated with me from Chris Hadfield’s presentation: “Nothing is impossible.” He added: “The millennials have never known a time when journeys into space are impossible. This is now their normal.”
Pushing the boundaries as to what we can do and thinking beyond our wildest dreams is the role we need to play if we are going to inspire a generation to think big and pursue their dreams; if we as business leaders are going to embrace change, drive and lead our companies in a way that provides relevance and opportunity.
At the blink of an eye the moment has gone, however the ability for one astronaut to inspire will last a lifetime.
Julia Lo Bue-Said is managing director of The Advantage Travel Partnership
