How easy it is to stop yourself

A few days before I introduced a team from the United Nations into the global Meetings, Incentive, Conference and Events industry to create a new conversation on ‘how events could be used to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’, the thought wandered into my head: ‘who am I to do this’?

I couldn’t answer this question because I didn’t have a title or job role where someone had told me this was what I had to do (and so people would accept me doing it). I could understand it was the right thing to do, as the benefits and business case seemed so clear. This question raised feelings of insecurity and concern linked to all my personal images (eg, what if people think I’m controlling and bossy). When those triggers go off, it’s the opposite of having a superpower – I experience a sap of all my energy and an overwhelming desire to run off and hide.

But the business case and rationale for taking action to create an event industry good for society and the environment seemed so obvious to me that it would be far too self-centred to let my triggers stop that.

Shifting the question to: what’s more important – ‘not to be triggered’ or a sustainable event industry – silenced the question of ‘who am I to do this?’.