You're leading an airline organization. How can you cultivate a culture of innovation among your team?

During my interaction with the aviation industry, I found a strong resistance to change and at the same time, a keen conviction to innovate. Leadership has a pivotal role to play. While players like Qatar airways, Ethiad etc have done a lot to embrace and evolve with change, there are players like Air Canada, Air India and others who are still figuring their ways. My only suggestions would be: 1. Assess what changes one needs as per the shortcomings their current modus operandi has. Accordingly make a change plan to best overcome those. 2. DO NOT follow the trends blindly. Herd mentality would do more harm than benefit. 3. Change is inevitable. Transform yourself before someone disrupts you.

In my decade of experience within the aviation industry, I have observed that it is one of the fastest-transforming sectors. However, I worry that many stakeholders and aviation staff struggle to keep pace with this transformation. Here are some key steps to consider when implementing change: -Assess the Necessity of Change: Is this change truly essential for our growth and success? -Evaluate Timing: Is now the optimal time to introduce this change? -Resource Availability: Do I have access to the necessary resources (human, financial, technological) to implement this change? -Strategize for Implementation: If the previous 3 questions are answered YES, outline a clear strategy and action plan for proceeding with the change.

Start by self-evaluating if you might be part of the resistance. Maybe the world is evolving and you need to adapt to it. 1 - Encourage brainstorming and an open-door office culture. The best ideas can come from anyone: let them speak to you. Do not only rely on groups of brainstorming as one group comes with one set of ideas: force parallel brainstorming by allowing individuals or little teams to contribute by themselves. 2 - Although complicated hierarchy-wise; Instore a culture of meritocracy. Reward people. For instance; if someone came up with a good idea; do not appropriate it but give credit where it is due. 3 - Create a clear channel which does not filter too much information. Avoid the possibility of missing out outstanding ideas.

First of if you are a true leader you must acknowledge each and everyone’s achievement aside from that there is always a team behind it. So never ever underestimate your teams capability you should always listen to their concerns. And it must always be a collaboration between you and the others you have to understand what are the things that might help your team and the company. Once you already hear their side then you can start innovating among your team members. Always remember your team members are all different, they share different perspective and culture so for you to be able to cultivate something listen and understand and then you collaborate. Let’s not forget the saying that the only constant in this world is change.

It’s clear that team members value having their feedback acknowledged. To foster this empowerment, I propose the following: -Dedicated Feedback Sessions: Hold regular meetings specifically for discussing employee feedback. This creates a safe space for open dialogue and encourages team members to share their insights. -Follow-Up Mechanisms: Establish a protocol for addressing feedback. Ensure that every piece of received feedback is acknowledged, and provide updates on any actions taken or plans for further exploration. -Encourage Collaborative Problem Solving: Facilitate workshops or brainstorming sessions where employees can collaborate on challenges and contribute ideas for improvement.

Create clear channels with current technologies: from an email forwarding to a dedicated app; it does not matter as long as it is something your People will actively find enticing. Make the flow easy: do not make it resemble filing a report. Consider brainstorming but do not rely on them only as their output is the image of a few only while parallel brainstorming; even individual; will increase the variety of point of views. Reward by instoring Meritocracy and give credit to the person which came up with the latest idea. If possible; invite them physically and make these change "real" to your People. Listen to everyone; you might have MBA trained staff but the janitor could have the idea of the decade in mind.

Monitor technologies. Do not forget your basics: sometimes keeping up to date with the latest Magazine dedicated to aviation technologies will keep you on your toes. Encourage people to share their developped skills. If someone is a new hire and knows something you don't; do not be afraid to ask this person to maybe make a casual presentation of something that is new to you. Be careful of straigt up powerpoint presentations as they are associated with boredom by most employees. Make it relatively casual; it will reduce stress for a newcommer too. Cross departmental exchange is definitely to be considered albeit complicated due to geographical or schedule constraints. Encourage some vertical exchange of information.

Failing is part of the process of learning. Do not be afraid to fail: try 10 ideas and you might fail 9 times but the 10th will be your breakthrough. As long as a new idea is tried with caution when it comes to safety; regulations; finances; one could almost adopt an approach of "just try it". If it does not work; embrace the learning opportunity. Thinking outside the box comes with risks; but paths are built where no one has opened a road before.

A specific idea I found interesting reading a book about "how clever people can be stupid at times" is that brainstorming sessions can be dangerous in that they omit the total brain power of everyone that is not involved. If anything create parallel brainstorming sessions. For instance; some songs by Rihanna were written in a room where 10 different teams of music writers were given the task to "come up with a catchy chorus". The point is that multiplying the flows of information multiplies the points of views. Simply prepare a process of sorting the total output regrouping similar ideas.

In the hospitality industry, particularly within aviation, where many individuals work around the clock, maintaining motivation and appreciation is crucial. This can be achieved through continuous feedback from employees at all levels, effective roster planning, workload management, and leveraging technology to track performance and recognize those who go the extra mile. Implementing such organizational practices helps employees reach their full potential, receive deserved recognition, and fulfill organizational goals, similar to the approach taken by the Emirates Group, of which I am proud to be a part.