Last Sunday was Vietnamese women’s day and, as always, I reflected on the three pieces of advice a wise man gave me when I first started working in Ho Chi Minh City, as General Manager of InterContinental Asiana Saigon. He sat me down for lunch one day and told me: the country is run by women, if you want anything doing, ask a woman, and,the person you will turn to most for advice at work will be a woman.
How true this was and continues to be- certainly at work - and I have been both blessed and proud to work with some exceptional women here. There is much an academic could discuss on this subject, but I wonder if it is history, society, and/or a deeper appreciation or development of human or “soft” skills that has made such an impact on the development of female leaders in the workplace?
There is, as always, plenty more to do to build genuine gender equality but I look at the tourism business here as an example of how this is evolving. One recent example is the partnership agreement signed between Vietnam Airlines and UN Women, “the purpose of which is to include leaders and men in fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace, advancing gender equality and empowering women.”
I look forward to seeing how this will develop and whether other tourism related companies will follow this lead. Surely, initiatives such as this will help to (re) build the missing human connection I mentioned in my last post, which will, in turn, lead to a healthier, happier and more engaged workforce. But what more should we be doing to make these noble intentions reality?
I enjoyed another discussion with Birgit Trauer who suggested we look more into the ethic of care and themeaning and practices of mindfulness beyond an individual perspective, a view that considers relational settings. Birgit has much to say on the commercialisation of mindfulness – aka McMindfulness – and how mindfulness is often understood and taught with no consideration of others and its role in society.
It can be argued that the modern workplace is often guilty of this - its fundamental politics and office dynamics, sometimes glossed over with expensive training courses that ignore the true working environment and lack of human connection and care. It is time for what Birgit calls relational mindfulness, which focuses on self, others, and the environment of our existence - in our daily lives, at work, and society at large.
This resonates with the statement by Vietnam Airlines in their recent press release: “As the national carrier, Vietnam Airlines understand that transforming into a progressive and equitable society through impactful social initiatives is critical.”
This is to be commended, and one hopes that other organisations will follow suit and develop their policies and strategies fostering the co-creation of a more relationally mindful and equitable way of co-existence.
We will certainly look at these in more detail in future posts and workshops. But, for now, what do you think?