Cultural Intelligence: The Essential Business Skill You Can’t Ignore

If you have ever worked in the world of international business, education, government or acadaemia, you may have come across the concept Cultural Intelligence.

Perhaps you dismissed it as an unnecessary management term that should be confined to the business buzzword bin. Surely anybody with half decent interpersonal skills can work with others, regardless of their culture or background? Surely if you’re just nice to people, you can do your job perfectly well without having to know about this stuff?

Culture Matters!

Culture is an ubiquitous and invisible influence which impacts almost every personal and professional interaction we make. Cultural dynamics in the workplace can be complex and multi-layered. When we talk about culture, it’s not just the values, beliefs and behaviours associated with the nationality of a person that come into play. Professions, organisations and even generations have their own cultures and sub-cultures, each with different behaviours, communication styles and references. Just stop for a moment and think about lawyers vs civil servants, startups vs government institutions, or Baby Boomers vs members of the digitally-savvy Generation Z. The differences can be immense!

The Pitfalls

People often judge communication and behaviours through their own cultural lens, assuming everybody around them shares the same perspective (a concept known as ethnocentrism). A lack of understanding about the unique traits of our own and other cultures, and how we might be perceived by others, can cause all sorts of obstacles for individuals, teams and organisations. Mistrust, misunderstanding, frustration, inefficiency and ineffectiveness are some just to name a few.

Interpreting the Unfamiliar

Some argue that Cultural Intelligence (or CQ – Cultural Quotient) is a form of Emotional Intelligence, and just means that individuals are aware of and sensitive to cultural differences. ?Although there is a connection to Emotional Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence is much more than this.

Individuals with high cultural intelligence have deep insight into the values and beliefs of another culture, and understand how these might play out in the behaviours, attitudes and communication of an individual. They view unfamiliar behaviours and communication styles with curiosity, regard them as a strength rather than a threat, and interpret and adapt to them accordingly. Culturally-intelligent individuals thrive in culturally-diverse environments, and are more confident working and managing others in cross-cultural situations.

The Research

Cultural Intelligence has evolved from extensive academic research in more than 100 countries, and is internationally recognised as a way to assess the effectiveness of working in different cultural contexts. The concept was initially introduced by Professors Christopher Earley and Soon Ang in their book Cultural Intelligence (2003). David Livermore, President and Partner at the Cultural Intelligence Center, further developed this work, measuring Cultural Intelligence against four specific capabilities: Drive, Knowledge, Action and Strategy.

The Essential Business Skill

As tempting as it might be to ignore, culture has a huge influence in the workplace, from the way we communicate, to the way we handle conflict, manage time or respond to hierarchy. In a global environment, it is vital to be able to interpret different contexts through the appropriate cultural lens.

Successful business comes down to people and relationships. Regardless of your sector or how good your services, products or technical skills are, doing business will be easier and more successful if you can convey the messages you need to, work with confidence in your knowledge of how other cultures do things, and build positive working relationships.

Cultural Intelligence is an essential and learnable skill (not to mention a fascinating and thought-provoking topic!), which carries ever increasing importance as the world experiences advancements in technology and artificial intelligence. ?Developing Cultural Intelligence is a great way for organisations to support their employees working globally, improve business performance and set themselves apart from their competition.