What is Cultural Intelligence and Why Does it Matter?
Australia’s domestic population is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse in the world. Australians come from over 200 birthplaces; more than 75% identify with an ancestry other than Australian.
You don’t need to have an international remit to be faced with culturally complex situations.
This is where Cultural Intelligence - a ‘vitally important aptitude and skill’ according to the Harvard Business Review – comes in.
Cultural Intelligence, CQ is defined as the capability to function effectively across various cultural contexts. Essentially, CQ picks up where EQ, Emotional Intelligence leaves off.
Your cultural narrative starts taking form from childhood and is shaped by factors beyond nationality. Ethnicity, generation, language and organisational experience also contribute to how we perceive the world and the behaviours of others.
Consider how the culture of one organisation or even department you worked for in the past differs from the current one – perhaps it was team-oriented verses individually competitive or authoritarian verses egalitarian. Reflect on how a team member’s family culture may differ from your own – traditional verses non-traditional, direct, almost confrontational dialogue verses a more harmonious almost indirect approach, do they say what they mean?
CQ requires intentional effort and abilities that go beyond simply being intelligent, emotionally mature, and having travelled extensively (myth no.1 – I travel therefore I am culturally intelligent!)
“Research demonstrates that CQ may easily be the single greatest difference between thriving in the 21st century world and becoming obsolete
Forbes lists Cultural Intelligence amongst the top 10 most important skills every company will be looking for in 2020 ”
People with strong Cultural Intelligence can adapt to others who might perceive the world differently. Developing your CQ offers the pathway to navigating confusing situations and making appropriate adjustments to connect with others of different cultures.
From working across borders, to bridging cultures at home, navigating organisational cultures to crossing generational gaps – CQ matters!
HOW CAN I DEVELOP MY CQ?
Here are a few steps you can take to enhance your Cultural Intelligence in order to appreciate cultural differences and make friends of cultural strangers.
Schedule a coffee with a colleague from a different cultural background and explore similarities and differences in your cultural contexts
Catch up on some reading. Dr David Livermore’s Expanding Your Borders and Erin Meyer’s The Culture Map are a great place to start
Take an Individual CQ Assessment to determine your competency to function across cultures
Organise a team workshop to uncover cultural preferences and promote understanding and inclusion
CQ APPLICATIONS INCLUDE:
Leadership Development Programs
Customer Engagement & Marketing Programs
Recruitment, Promotion & Performance Reviews
Team Development
Diversity and Inclusion Programs
Global Relocation & Expansion Initiatives
With the accreditation of the Cultural Intelligence Center in the US, Rabbani Collective now offers a range of CQ Assessments and Workshops from Cultural Values Profiling through to Managing Unconscious Bias that can be tailored to specific business needs.
The CQ Model provides a coherent framework to measure individual and/or team capability to relate and work effectively in culturally diverse situations.
It’s a form of intelligence that has been tested by academic researchers
in over 98 countries for nearly two decades.
Interested to know more? Contact us for an exploratory discussion.
