Delphine Millot, SVP for Advocacy and Sustainability, GBTA interviewed by D Dowling

Delphine Millot, SVP of GBTA, she shares her thoughts on how to effectively power and advance your career. Delphine discusses her commitment to continuous learning and growth, her proactive approach to taking on diverse assignments, and her investment in education as an adult learner.

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Dorothy Dowling 0:05

Greetings. I am Dorothy Dowling, a principal of DEI Advisors. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to personal empowerment. I'm delighted to welcome Delphine Milliot, SVP for Advocacy and Sustainability at GBTA. Delphine, it is an honor to have you with us today.

Delphine Millot 0:22

Thank you, Dorothy. It's a real honor to be here with you today.

Dorothy Dowling 0:26

Thank you. So Delphine, I hope we can get right to it. And the first question we always ask every DEI advisor is if you would be so kind as to share your career journey with us, you've had an amazing career in public relations, public affairs, and as a business strategist, and now you're leading the advocacy and sustainability effort for the Global Business Travel Association. So I'm hoping you can share your career journey with us from your early days in Europe to your role today.

Delphine Millot 0:53

Sure. I'm happy to share this international journey. Indeed. That started in Europe. And really, my background is in European politics, European public affairs. I actually studied in several countries. I think this is the beauty about the European Union. We have a program which is called Erasmus that allows us to study in several countries. So I started in France and then moved to Ireland. I studied a year in Dublin and then in Belgium. I think I fell in love with the European Union, the world of public affairs, and decided to stay in Brussels, work in European politics. And I had a choice back then. It was, did I want to work for NGOs, for the institutions? And I for a firm called Grayling where I studied, started advising firms on like their strategies to engage with stakeholders, including European governments. And I enjoyed it so much that I stayed for quite a while with Grayling until I decided to move to the U. S. I have to say. This was mostly for personal reasons. At the time, and it was not supposed to be for a long time. It was supposed to be for two years. And when actually my partner told me, okay, what about, we moved to New York for two years. What would you say about that? So I was like, great. Let's try this New York journey. Yeah. Back then. So I didn't want to have a real carrier break. I wanted a break from public affairs and European affairs. In any case, I didn't see a great match between the U S and European affairs. So I worked in various positions, actually one of the fun job while I was a trader in commodities with Africa, I opened a lot of markets in West Africa. Like my skill was My French language. So I did work in commodity trading and then also did a year for a startup in nutrition and sustainability, which was also a lot of fun. And then, the US journey grew on me, grew on us, and we decided to stay. And I did miss back then the word of public affairs. And I always kept in touch with my. Previous bus team and I miss them. They missed me. So we worked on something where what about from the U. S. I start opening a market to bring U. S. based companies and organizations and represent them with the European Union. And there was actually a great demand. for this. And I was also lucky enough that back then Grayling was growing globally. So it has always been traditionally a European established firm and it was growing with a lot of offices in the U. S. So I started this journey and I stayed on it was great to be able to work with a number of different clients, including GBTA. Which became my client back then. And did a lot of fun work. What I loved is that in addition to, being a very fulfilling work and topic on a personal level, this was my link back to Europe. So I was able to travel with my U S clients. back to Europe. I was back to Paris back to Brussels. And after a few years, what I felt is that given the long term plan of staying in the U. S. I wanted to have more focus on a company where the heart of the engine would be in the U. S. versus Europe. I always felt, I was a remote worker before COVID, to be honest. And even before there were video calls, like I was on the good old conference call conference calls back then. And then, as I was searching what my next move would be I like cross paths with Susan who's now the CEO of GVTA. And she had just taken over like as the leader of the organization. And she was my client and talking about a lot of amazing plans she had in mind in terms of dubbing down in terms of sustainability with the organization. And she said, Oh, I'm looking for someone to lead that work. Maybe this is you. And I was like, Oh. This sounds pretty exciting. Maybe this is the right time. And it's when you work in consulting, it's always not always looked in a positive way to be leaving for the client. So I wanted to make sure that I do this properly. I actually called our CEO back then. I was like, this is an opportunity that came my way. If you don't want me to take it, I won't take it. What do you think about it? And he was like, Take it, run, like this is, this job is made for you. Having someone who believed in the fact that I could do this, my former boss saying, okay, that's something that you're going to be great at. I just run with it. And then, it's actually what's interesting is this role was really about building a sustainability initiative for GVTA, and that was really the first few months of my work. On the back of this, we relaunched the foundation and then Susan was like, what about you also lead the foundation? And we're going to onboard some fantastic program on the people side of things. And I said yes to that and obviously was very excited about these and the kind of Third hat that action now wearing with G. B. T. A. S. On the advocacy front and something that's my core. It's something I always felt very passionate about. And this is the last responsibility that Susan gave me saying, What about you also run out of our global advocacy efforts for G. B. T. A. In addition to the foundation and all of this PCs work so well together. I was really excited to take on my challenge. And I think, I've through this journey, I've been building a lot of new skills, but also able to leverage all of my existing skills. So it's been great. And it's, it's what kind of took me to the job I'm having today. And my current role.

Dorothy Dowling 6:54

Thank you for sharing that with us, Delphine. And I do believe that this role at GPT was really designed with you in mind. And certainly you have added so much in terms of. Just the background and experience you bring in terms of that European foundation, but also the way you work with stakeholders I know has been incredibly valuable to the organization. So thank you for sharing that journey with us. I'm wondering if there was a personal mantra or thread that has helped shape your personal journey. Personal success in your career success that you could share with our audience.

Delphine Millot 7:29

Yeah, actually, there are many mentors that helped me through my careers, when I go back to the early days, even making the decision of what type of job to pick. When I arrived in Brussels, I had amazing carrier counselors with my master's degree. What I found is, especially in Europe a lot of the. Amazing content. We learned that university doesn't prepare us for the workplace. And I was really lost when I arrived in Brussels in terms of all of the jobs I could get. And the great piece of advice I got is for this person to tell me. Pick a job where you're going to have this helicopter view on all of the other jobs that are available and also pick the job that is going to be the most demanding, that's going to require you to work the hardest. And if you start there, like it's going to be Like open, like all of the doors around you. So really like that consulting role where I was interacting with governments and with all of the European institutions, so I could get a sense of what they were working on. I was interacting with the private sector in many various industries. I worked with pharma and with oil and gas, like all of the industries. And also with nonprofits really helped me, understand where I want it to be. And it's I knew that I wanted to stay at the nexus of all of these various stakeholders. And then, my boss and like the CEO of the organization. And I know that in a lot of discussions around mentors and carriers, there is this thing that say, ah, your mentor is not your boss. Your mentor should not be your boss. But in this case, I cannot help it. He's the person who recruited me, who believed in me when I think I didn't know that I didn't believe in myself is that I was not sure, how it was going to go. It was my first job and I became a director at 25 years old. Leading a team of 10 people. I had a lot of, like very high level, like clients and like important. I was already interacting with C level that age and that stage of my career, and it's been very, it was stressful, it was daunting, but I loved it. And I learned so much through it. So I'm very grateful because sometimes, I just felt I needed this push and someone who yeah, so sinks in me that I didn't necessarily see myself and it's been, also through a lot of my clients, something that I really love through consulting is. First there's the team based work that goes with it. So I learned a lot through my colleagues and we were all like with very different, backgrounds and take about how we serve clients, but also from my clients themselves. Because again, like they were, working in primarily in big corporations where they had to, fight for their value as public affairs professionals because they were not really, in the side of the business that brings the money, but defense the license to operate of these companies. And, like observing how They teach the value of their work, how they interact with their consultants and how they were treating us as consultants has also helped me a lot. And I think, all of these contacts when I moved from Brussels and Europe to the U S is actually through this network that I've been able, to find my next move, to get a lot of advice because I was like, Oh. What can a European affairs professional do from New York? And no one was short of recommendations, answers, advice. So yeah, I have to say, and more, recently, Susan has been an amazing leader. To work with and work for. So I have to say that I've been incredibly lucky through my journey as well, to have a lot of my direct supervisors who've been amazing mentors for me.

Dorothy Dowling 11:36

There's a lot there that you offer to the audience and if I may, there's just a couple of things that I wanted to highlight Delphine one was really that early investment you made in your career, which I think is one very courageous for you to have done that. But I do think those early stages when you are investing in the learning journey and being. In an environment where you're being pushed in terms of working with people that are extraordinary and you've got to be on your A game, but also just the opportunities of all the informal learning of being able to observe and learn from them just by being in the room is something I think many could learn from you. I also just think your courageous left in terms of taking on some of these big challenging jobs early in your career have paid amazing dividends just in terms of your exposure and your respect and understanding of a lot of individuals that you've had the opportunity to work with. And lastly, I just think your ability to move and to Embrace other countries and cultures. I think there's a lot to be taken from that journey that you've invested in yourself. So I really thank you for that. And also that element of mentors seeing great things in you that maybe you just hadn't yet seen in yourself and you, they allowed you to flourish in those environments. An amazing career. I know you've got many things ahead of you, but thank you for sharing how all those champions have been so impactful in your career journey. I'm wondering if we could ask a little bit about because of all these moves in your educational decisioning and also in your career. You've had to do a lot of resets in terms of both your personal networks and your personal and your professional network. So I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about how you approach and adapt to all these significant changes that you had to navigate.

Delphine Millot 13:27

Sure. So my big move was in essence. So moving from Brussels to New York City and one of the things that I would say really helped me was to look at all of my skill sets and see how I could repurpose them in a way that was relevant to my new context, to the opportunities in New York City. The luck I had is that I moved from a, international hub to another one. And I was able To see that overall, I had a very international carrier. Even when I was based in Brussels, a lot of the companies I worked for and worked with were large American multinationals. I also, could see that at the end of the day, What I was doing, even if the subject matter expertise I had developed was the European policy making, it was also about communications and corporate representations. It was about, taking efforts, initiatives that were carried by Corporations and explaining them to policymakers in a way that's relevant to the new legislations and rules that were being adopted and that, at the end of the day, this is communications just to a policy audience and that this was valid for, like media relations, stakeholder engagements, coalition building. So once I started, like realizing these, I, As a tester, because there are a lot of like large public relations and public affairs firms in New York city. And I started sending my resume to see how, that would work. And I actually started getting a lot of responses back and I knew it was a very competitive market. So I could see. Actually, it was a very helpful differentiator to have an international expertise, and I was able to use these as a setting point something else that, for me, was also incredibly helpful is to go back to studying. And that was back then like a big investment of time and also financial investment a big difference. And I'm not like teaching you anything, but between Europe and the US is that in Europe, like education is mostly for free while in the US, it has a price tag. And I was like, look, it's an investment. I have to do in myself. And I started a master in public administration at Columbia University. And this has been fantastic because this was my full immersion in actually subjects that I had studied back in Europe, but in U. S. context and also the network I built. Through, going back to studies and the journey has been amazing. And it also allowed me to have something that ties it back to the U. S. I remember actually, like I referred to this discussion I had with Susan when she started talking about this position on sustainability, and I'm still not even sure she had me in mind for that position. But then when she said that, I'm like, Oh yeah, I've got an amazing. Network at Columbia University, because I had actually taken a lot of like specialty classes on ESG on sustainability on decarbonization, because it was already like a topic that I was fascinated with. So it just then was. Also an easy sell to say I had acquired new skills that were technical skills in addition through this master's. So this has been also a way, and I'm not saying, it's not a must, but personally, I felt it's really helpful to do this investment and then, leverage the networks I had because everyone I knew in Brussels had a colleague working in the U S. So a lot of discussions to figure out, your own personal journeys of other people who had made these move before. And then, the rest is history. Then it was but it took an effort. I have to say it was not easy and I don't want to make it sound easy, but as long as, someone keeps an open mind and, has some patience because it took me. It took me three years, all in all, to go back on track in terms of the carrier that would have a more linear path on the resume. But I, yeah, this is how I did it.

Dorothy Dowling 17:56

Thank you for sharing. Your intentional journey, because I do think again, there's something for our listeners to learn from you, Delphine, in terms of you being very practical in saying, this is a skill set I have. I want to build some credibility and specific cultural knowledge in the market that I'm moving to. So I'm going to make this investment in terms of Formalizing my education commitment, but then also trying to build the connectivity with your relationships that you had in Europe and bringing some of that relationship equity to your career path. It's a very strategic approach to your career development and I think many will learn from you in terms of your approach. So thank you for that. I'm wondering if we could move a little bit on from, the kind of educational and the Delphine, because Now, of course, the conversation around DE& I and climate risk, they're facing more challenges. And I think a lot of that comes through understanding that people may not fully understand the nature of some of the work. And there is, Obviously misinformation that many people have. So I'm just wondering in terms of the role that you have with GBTA, the thought leadership that you surround yourself work, the advocacy that you're doing in supporting these major initiatives. If there's anything that you might share with our viewers and listeners as to how they should be thinking about DE& I and also some of the climate related matters that we all have to think about in terms of, Our people and our planet.

Delphine Millot 19:31

Thank you, Dorothy, for bringing this topic and on a personal level. I have to say that I struggle with the politicization of a lot of these issues because at the end of the day, they're. They're not political. They are business issues. And I think it's the way we need to cut through the noise and recenter or members or stakeholders, because this is we're not activists and I'm not saying this in a demeaning way because we need. activists and we need all of the voices to be heard, but we are business professionals and the reason why we're pushing for climate action, the reason why we are pushing for diversity, inclusion and equity is because this is good for business. And we want to build the sustainable business models and we want to push for this longer term approach. I think probably the point of friction is where it's, the way business is run now and the kind of capitalism system. Capitalistic system we're in is everything is driven by, short term, medium term results and dividends. And it's very difficult to push for this longer term view and saying, okay, these are investments that are gonna, not result in, Profits on the short term, but they're going to result in profits in the longer term, they're going to result in just maintaining a license to operate. And I think, this is the friction point we're in. We've seen incredible thought leadership from. Like business leaders in terms of embracing ESG goals and saying, okay, if it's good for people and if it's good for the planet, it's good for business too. And having more of the. Investors decisions tied to something we can measure in terms of progress, but, um, like this effort has not been linear. It got traction. And now there is this kind of, deceleration, which is quite unfortunate. And also linked to, yeah, like the electoral agenda. Like 2024 is such a big election year around the globe. And what I believe is that, and what I hope is that this work, Is continuing maybe on a less visible level, and it's more low key, but that nothing has stopped in essence. And that's why it's important for us, with GBTA or thought leadership and the work we do with the foundation to give people confidence. That's the right thing to do and just equip them with road map tools, a pathway in terms of saying, okay, we recognize that. Companies have different goals, different styles and different levels of sophistication and readiness on all of these issues. But what matters is to realize the importance of acting to, set goals that mirror where companies feel they can advance and where their own priorities are and to make progress year over year There's been a lot of talks about the urgency and we have to realize that for climate action, it's like things need to happen right now. I think we could say the same on the people side of things because it's right now that we are building the pipeline of talents and the workforce for tomorrow. And there is. evidence. There are facts that show that, investments in the more diverse workforces yielding positive results. Just like the same with women in leadership. Like this is something we can measure and track and we can see the improvements. I hope this work is continuing behind the scenes. And we want, change our, North star with GBT and the foundation. We're gonna Continue equipping our members and partners with everything they need to be, like continuing this work.

Dorothy Dowling 23:44

I think the way that you have really structured your positioning in terms of saying, it's got to be evidence based and we've got to be able to develop, the narrative around all of the proof points of why this is good and why it actually drives business outcomes, I think is critically important. And I also think the way that you have structured. The approach of supporting your business partners in terms of meeting them where they're at Delphine and giving them the tools, because for me, the work that you do and the work that you have made such a difference with GBTA is really structuring all of those tools so that. Everyone can approach some of these things in a consistent way and that they don't have to go out and reinvent the wheel in terms of maybe developing up those metrics or some of the story around why those metrics matter. So I thank you for your work because it does take courage to be at the forefront of some of these conversations and just your eloquence and bringing those stories forward and your strategic approach to really making sure people have that longer term vision, I think, is very important. been incredibly impactful for GBTA and the travel community at large. So I very much appreciate all the thought leadership that you have elevated all of us with your wisdom.

Delphine Millot 24:58

Thank you. And like your support and active involvement through, like quite a few of these works with the foundation, the winning program, I've been taking the torch and in its structuring, but I feel, that joining GBTA, I was impressed by, what leaders, even before I joined, leaders like you have been doing through a lot of these programs. So indeed now it's been about like building the platform to make sure that this leadership, inspires. The rest of the industry and is able, to just yeah, getting these tools and resources for people to be leaning on something concrete to help advance their efforts.

Dorothy Dowling 25:40

Thank you, Delphine. I think that there's many of us that have a real passion for the causes associated with this change, but you have just elevated. Some of the structural and the strategic foundation behind it, which I think empowers everyone to be able to be far more effective in the way they continue to evolve the change in their organization. So you have been an incredible difference maker, and I am very grateful that Suzanne brought you on in such a strategic role for GBTA. I'm wondering if I can move on a little bit about a personal, and you have a very big job. You travel A lot globally. And you have a lot of responsibilities in terms of being the face of GBJ in many different events, but you're also a parent and you are a partner and I, you have a lot of teammates that look up to you. So I'm wondering how you balance and really do what you need for yourself personally, Delphine, as well as all of the people that count on you.

Delphine Millot 26:42

That's a good question. And. Maybe I would like to start by dispelling the myth that we can have it all. I really believe that we can never have it all. It's I'm not trying to be the perfect leader, the perfect mom at the same time, because this would be mission impossible. So what I'm trying really to do is the best professional I can, the best mom I can, and what has really helped me. is to, to segment and to disconnect whenever I get the chance. I will make sure that, if it's a very easy time at work and I need to be there for my team and I cannot let that down. I've got a good support system, meaning my husband. So I have to say I'm very grateful for my husband because the rest of my family is all in France and in portable. And so I do not have maybe like the broader family support that some people would have. But my husband who also has a big job has been, very wonderful in terms of, when. convention. LGBT convention is around the corner. I'm going to be gone for a four week and I know that I can do that and it doesn't make me a bad mom or anything like that. So having this comfort and then on the flip side of things, I make sure that when I disconnect, I do disconnect and I will always try it in summer to take, at least two weeks vacation block. And I'm telling my team of course you can reach me if there's an emergency, but I'm not going to check any email, I'm going to forget about you all and really disconnect and be there 100 percent for my family. And again, I can do that because I've got an amazing support system at work. Amazing colleagues, amazing team. And I know that they. And they can make everything advance without me. So I think it's been I think about building this support system, being able to, like disconnect and take time to recharge, refresh. And yeah, that's basically the only advice that I can give.

Dorothy Dowling 28:46

I do think that. That is really great advice for people to hear, Delphine, because I think you're a role model for many, and you're much earlier in terms of your career journey. You've got a very long runway ahead. So I think people being able to watch you and see how you do that. And also. Know that they have the permission to do the same as they need to. I think it allows everyone to do their best in terms of being a parent and also their best in terms of the team and the organizational needs, but, and it's also about taking care of yourself because I think we're all aware of our own personal wellness really drives our ability and in our leadership journey as well. So I for your honesty. And I also thank you that you're sharing that myth of, you can have it all. Maybe, but it's not having it all at once. And that approach to segmenting your time of 100 percent dedication to different individuals that you are trying to support, I think is really wise. So thank you for sharing that. Of course. So Delphine, we're coming up near the end. And one of the questions that we always ask every advisor when they participate in these interviews with us is that. If they were looking back at themselves, maybe that 24, 25 year old that went to Brussels if there's any advice that you would offer to that Delphine in terms of things that you might offer to her that might've eased your journey or maybe approach things slightly differently.

Delphine Millot 30:15

The list is long. I felt sometimes I think about myself 20 years ago, and I'm like, Oh, I was a little clueless, but I always had, that energy and drive. So that was really my starting point. I think that what I've realized that is for me now, the perfect trifecta is that, it's about it. The skill sets that we build. And, I started my career really being like a generalist and I really felt a lot of value in terms of building specific skill sets especially with my Columbia program and the sustainability ESG classes. So that's something that I would say, okay, it's about skills build those skills the relationship. Part, I think I've really now come to realize the importance of maintaining these relationships. I would not be where I am now without, having looked after my network, try to be helpful to people, sometimes it's, giving more than you take, and sometimes it's going to be reversed, but I think, what, Building this network is really important. And the last piece is the the mindset. I think approaching things with a positive attitude, thinking that, the sky is the limit. is possible. I've come to realize that this really goes a long way. I've seen it through actually almost like a mirror of interacting with a lot of people. And when people are constructive, solutions oriented like this problem solving, I think like the mindset and actually I would say the mindset kind of, trumps the skills in many ways. In the sense of that's, like saying yes to things, being open to new experiences. I think that's something that's probably, I would not say I had not realized back then, but now I've actually realized how powerful that is.

Dorothy Dowling 32:20

My hypothesis Delphine is that well, you might not have consciously realized it. I think you knew it intuitively because your life experience and the way you've approached your journey, I think is representative of someone that actioned a lot of that intuitively. So I am really grateful for the wisdom that you've shared with our audience today. I'm really grateful to have you in my circle and I thank you for all of the brilliance that you bring to GBTA and to our industry. I'm very proud too. Have a small piece of the opportunity of continuing to work with you, Delphine. So thank you.

Delphine Millot 32:54

And thank you, Dorothy. I think it's amazing to have the opportunity to share this. I've been like a kind of consultant for so many years where, it's really about working for your clients and sometimes you forget about yourself a little bit. And, having the ability to look back at things, share advice. And I have to say, I've also learned a lot from, the interviews with the various leaders you had on DNI advisors. So it's just, it's been great and I have to thank you for everything you do for our industry because this is also having, a long lasting impact.

Dorothy Dowling 33:33

Thank you Delphine. Like you, I believe in giving it back and paying it forward because many people did that for me along the way. So that's part of our commitment to each other. So thank you. And if I may I would also thank our audience and say, if you've enjoyed this wonderful interview with Delphine, I hope you come and visit us on our website, DEIAdvisors. org, where you'll see webcasts and podcasts from other industry leaders that I hope will empower your knowledge and feel your spirit just as Delphine has done today. So hope to see you there. Delphine, thank you again.

Delphine Millot 34:07

Thank you, Dorothy.