Lane Cardwell

Elevating Leaders

I am halfway through the 18th Annual Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF) Leadership Development Conference in Washington, D.C.  If tomorrow’s program is as impactful as today’s, this will have been one more successful conference in a string of 18.  The WFF focuses on personal and career development, not industry trends or issues. However, you spend 3 days surrounded by other foodservice leaders, so concept and industry discussions are inevitable. I have been attending the WFF conferences for the past 10 years and have watched the conference size grow from a few hundred, to over 3000 attendees.

Along with that growth has been an increasingly professional and impactful program designed to teach the core leadership competencies. These were developed by foodservice CEO’s as the 10 critical leadership skills to master. Each year the programming is designed to focus on four specific skills out of the ten. This year the selected competencies covered in the conference are:

• Initiative--Drive for growth and improvement
• Visioning/Setting Direction--Understand where a business must go and share the vision
• Tough Minded—Make hard decisions and address issues directly
• Developing Others—Mentor and coach team members to develop their leadership skills

The remaining core competencies, the focus of other conferences, are: 

• Strategic Thinking—Take a “big picture” view of one’s business and responsibilities
• Building Networks—Identify and nurture internal and external relationships
• Building High-Performing Teams—Form a team capable of achieving organizational goals
• Driving for Results—Overcome barriers to success
• Risk Taking—Challenge the status quo and traditional ways of doing things
• Communicating and Listening—Communicate clearly in speech and writing

The WFF conferences are the largest gathering of foodservice professionals outside of restaurant and food shows. The quality and impact of the conferences account for the dramatic growth in attendees over the past 10 years. The word has spread about the benefit of this program and organization for its participants. Venue capacity is the only constraint, so far, on the potential size of this conference.  

The mission of the WFF is Elevating Women Leaders. I believe in the advancement of women as leaders. The proof of the impact of a diversified workplace is indisputable. And I support that mission whole heartedly. But I am here for me. There aren’t special skill sets for women leaders vs. men leaders. Maybe the obstacles differ, but the competencies of a leader remain the same. The WFF is the only industry gathering where the focus is the improvement of the professional as an individual. Other conferences focus on improving the individual as a professional. 

If your organization isn’t participating in the WFF, you are falling behind in the battle for leaders. This is a great gathering of over 3000 people focused on improving their leadership skills. One third of the attendees are first timers. Visually, it appears that there are a higher percentage of men attending this year; greater than the 10% historical level. I attribute this to the fact that there are an increasing number of men who are brave enough to say, “I’m going to the WFF conference.” That is probably about the same percentage of men who are secure enough to order the petite filet.

Posted by Lane Cardwell on April 15, 2008 | Comments (5)