In 2021, WITH Tas received grant funding from the Tasmanian Government to help women in the tourism & hospitality industry develop their leadership and business skills. The first of these initiatives was to provide three $1,000 scholarships for the I-LEAD course created and conducted by Tasmanian Leaders.
The three scholarship winners were Kirsten Bach (pictured left below) from Visit Northern Tasmania, Gabriella Conti (right below) formerly of Federal Hotels and now with West by North West and Kimberley Odgers (inset below) formerly of Grand Chancellor Hobart and now with Engineers Australia.
Kirsten shares some of her insights and experience as well as recommendations on the course.
"Any time you spend developing yourself will also benefit the workplace and those close to you.
I feel that as females we juggle a number of roles and the time spent on your own development is invaluable and well deserved."
Kirsten Bach
Kirsten Bach
I am very thankful to Women in Tourism & Hospitality for offering me this opportunity.
I was concerned about the time commitment going into the program but found it to be very achievable as there was not a large time commitment outside of the dedicated course hours. It was valuable to spend some time on my personal development and leadership style, time that I would not normally dedicate to myself.
There is a range of topics covered so each participant should find relevance in the course content. Personally I found I could apply some of the units immediately to the workplace to improve my efficiency.
Some of my key takeaways were:
- It was a great opportunity to review and reflect on my development
- I found it interesting listening to other viewpoints
- It was a good reminder of how different each individual is
- For me it was a timely reminder to prioritise and say no occasionally or delegate
- I made invaluable contacts in the sessions
- I-LEAD provides great future opportunities for networking
In conclusion I would encourage all women in tourism to spend time developing themselves.
Gabriella Conti
Thank you to WITH in supporting the I-Lead scholarship, a great opportunity for women in the industry.
The Tasmanian Leaders program was an opportunity to meet a variety of leaders around the state.
The program covered a broad range of content throughout the 12 week course and gave you the tools to assist in your leadership style.
A great opportunity to grow as an individual both professionally and personally.
Kimberley Odgers
Thanks to Women in Tourism and Hospitality Tasmania and Communities Tasmania, I was granted a scholarship which gave me the opportunity to partake in the I-Lead Program's April 2021 cohort.
It was a twelve-week program run over three-and-a-half-hour sessions each Tuesday between 9am – 12.30pm. During the sessions we learnt about leadership concepts and had the opportunity to learn from our peers. The format was usually a new topic introduced, followed by virtual break-out rooms where we would discuss questions with our peers. There were also sessions where we had guest speakers which was a very valuable part of the program.
I really enjoyed the time spent with my particular focus group where we worked together to solve each-others' real workplace challenges as it was interesting in seeing things through the perspective of others.
I am glad to have had this opportunity and would recommend the program to those who learn best through their peers and shared experiences.