Crossing the Cultural Divide

Australia is a multicultural country. Our workplaces are increasingly multicultural. In the supermarkets and boardrooms, we rub shoulders everyday with people originating from all over the world. And yet, while we live in the same city and we work side by side every day, it’s easy to feel disoriented. It’s not hard to feel so far apart.

How can we live better together in our offices and neighbourhoods? How can we adapt without losing our own story? How can we learn from each other, grow closer together and find a new richer collective identity that will carry Australia into the future?

Speakers:

Stephen Lam - Hong Kong has a rich history influenced by both East and West. Throughout his political career there, Stephen Lam has crossed the cultural gap – nevermore so than as the director of the Handover Ceremony in 1997 when the sovereignty of the region was handed to China after decades of British rule. At this momentous juncture, how was the cultural gap crossed? How can societies be lead so that cultures are drawn closer rather than segregated? Come to hear Stephen share how the gap was navigated, what cross-cultural leadership looked and what cross-cultural leadership looks like today. After the Handover, Stephen stayed in politics and became Chief Secretary of Hong Kong in 2011.

Deb Hannaford is a cultural transition specialist. For over a decade, she coached and trained executives and their families on how to migrate to new countries, helping them settle and thrive in their new cultures. Drawing on her experience in psychology as a clinical therapist, Deb will give us the practical tips to help ourselves and others find their feet in the world they step into every morning.