LinkedIn Pulse Post by Jon Bisset FSAE (Chief Executive Officer at Community Broadcasting Association of Australia - CBAA and AuSAE Board Member)

How does an organisation build member value? How do you stay relevant? How do you integrate social media wisely? How do you identify major trends within association management? These were just some of the questions tackled as part of a panel session in which I participated at the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) conference Great Ideas Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong earlier this week. 

It was a pleasure to be joined on the panel by executives from the Project Management Institute China, The Hong Kong Management Association and Korean MICE Association, as well as moderator Peter O'Neil, of the American Industrial Hygiene Association, who lead the dialogue. It was fascinating to hear such a culturally diverse group of association CEOs from around the world discuss their own organisation’s challenges and successes, especially in terms of change management and the process of transforming “great ideas” into action.

Diversity provides a lesson for each of us to be okay with and open to those things that set us apart – race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, physical and mental ability, language (the list goes on) and understanding and accepting of people for who they are. Being culturally aware provides an opportunity to stand back and consider that there are certain backgrounds, personal values, beliefs and upbringings that shape the things we all do. Learning about and listening to people from other cultures helps us relate to one another and be okay with different perspectives.

I saw this quote recently, and it’s stuck with me.

"Diversity is the one true thing we have in common."

Now that’s something to embrace.

This post originally appeared on LinkedIn here (click on link to listen to a CBAA podcast on diversity).