Part One
I WAS invited to Singapore from October 29 to 31 to attend and be a panelist at the Association Leadership Forum organized by the Washington, D.C.-based American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). I wore two hats—one as a full-time secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (Adfiap) and also as a volunteer leader of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE).
The Forum, held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, was attended by 130 international association-delegates from 43 cities in 15 countries and also by 25 content leaders, 17 exhibitors and 12 members of the ASAE Asia-Pacific Advisory Task Force.
The event was the fourth in a series of annual conferences on association management in various cities in the Asia-Pacific region. Started as the “Great Ideas” conference in 2015, the event moved from Hong Kong to Seoul, and now to Singapore where it was reformatted as a “Leadership” conference.
I wish to share the following takeaways, which I thought would be of interest:
The opening keynote speaker was Su-Yen Wong, founder and CEO of Bronze Phoenix, who has more than 25 years of experience with boards and the C-suite across the Asia Pacific and North America. She spoke on “Transformational Leadership in an Age of Disruption.” Among her insights on how to be a transformational leader are:
- Develop a broader radar. Leaders of today need to foster a culture of curiosity and be bold and daring in their decision-making.
- Redesign work. The rise of the “gig economy,” where flexible jobs are commonplace and companies tend to hire independent contractors and freelancers instead of full-time employees, will change today’s work as we know it.
- Bring people on the journey. More than ever, as new technologies come our way, it’s imperative to upgrade and reskill human talent and to encourage change-oriented mindsets.
- Drive change from within. It’s now time to go out of your comfort zone, adapt to remain relevant, and learn, unlearn and relearn.
The next “deep dive” session was conducted by Susan Robertson, president of the ASAE Foundation, who presented their initiative on “Applying Foresight to Your Association’s Future.” The ASAE ForesightWorks project is a deliberate, evidence-based research initiative and emerging line of products designed to be the association executive’s partner in environmental scanning and planning for change. The project’s mission is to create a culture of foresight in associations, not only by providing major trend analyses but also tools and processes needed to practice scanning on your own. Among the drivers of change that Susan mentioned includes:
- Microlearning—These are programs with “bite-sized” learning units and short-term learning activities in mediated environments. The short retentive memory span and busy schedules in today’s world makes microlearning appealing, and associations have to cash in.
- Next-generation professionals—Changes in demographics also alter the way associations should cater to the needs of the emerging new breed of professionals.
- Rejection of expertise—The public “trust” in noncredentialed and “unofficial” information sources is becoming a trend. The challenge is how associations can retain and enhance their position as the most reliable source of credible information and guidance.
To be continued
The column contributor, Octavio “Bobby” Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Adfiap and founder and CEO of
the PCAAE.
PCAAE is holding its sixth Associations Summit on November 23 and 24 at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center.
The event is hosted by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and supported by the Tourism Promotions Board. PCAAE enjoys the support of Adfiap, TPB and the Philippine International Convention Center.
E-mail obp@adfiap.org