It is this time of year that you are trying to review and firm up your role as an event manager and leader in running your event management company, and implementing your clients' events.

The truth is the change that you want to happen in these areas must begin inside you. Change must take place inside out.

Change yourself, and change your world.

Recently, I watched XXX: Return of Xander Cage, in one scene I like what Xander said to a child, he said, “the world is big but it perfectly fits in your heart.”

Having this mantra, here are my top 5 qualities to be a great event manager:


1.    Great Communicator

“Good Communication Is As Stimulating As Black Coffee, And Just As Hard To Sleep After.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh 

It is the number one skill and gift that an event manager must have whether he or she is engaging with clients, suppliers and staff.
We, as an event manager, live and die with this skill. It is only imperative that we become the best in communication.

2.    Laser Focus

“It’s easy to dream about it … Much harder to execute it ...Work!” – Gary Vaynerchuk

I love Gary Vaynerchuk, my top reason is that he is super focus on what he does, and that is to become one of the best entrepreneurs in this digital age.

His wine library and media agency are inspirational stories that show how he is hustling to become what he envisions to be.

Event managers must be laser focused on what their objectives are whether in handling their in-house events or clients' events.

3.    Innovation Driven

“If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old. ” ― Peter F. Drucker

The father of modern management can’t go wrong when he said this. Innovation in the event management industry is a competitive advantage that all event managers must have in their DNA.

In the event management industry, it is innovate or die. Only those event managers that are constantly innovating will avoid being left behind.


4.    Positively Positive

”Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.” – Helen Keller

The event management industry is only for people with a strong nerve and a positive mind.

Event Management like life has peaks and valleys. An event manager must always be positive during bad and difficult situations.

Event managers are solution finders. This is one quality they are being paid for. Only those event managers that have a positive mind and outlook can have the ability to find solutions to pressing matters and situations at hand.

5.    Genuine Accountability

“Accountability breeds response-ability.“ - Stephen Covey

Event managers must be accountable. There is no other way to be successful in this demanding field than to be accountable.

All the worries and pains of clients are erased, and they experience something magical and unforgettable, only if the event manager practices genuine accountability.

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Indeed, after the pitch, talk is cheap and action is like the baseball bat that can hit a homerun to the hearts of your organization and clients, if you are handling and swinging it with hands that know genuine accountability.

In summary, these are my top five qualities that an event manager should have in the year 2017. I am curious if these qualities that I hold dear will change in the next year. This depends on the experiences and journeys that I will have this year.

In addition, you may add other qualities as you like and by no means what I wrote here is exhaustive. But one thing for sure, these qualities can bring you at the top of your game.

See you at the top!