Cultural Quotient (CQ) and Cultural Fluency

There is an increasing demand for Senior Executives in global leadership roles to display cultural fluency and be able to operate in rapidly changing environments no matter where they are or what culture they are in.

Culture in this case can mean literally dealing with partners, clients and colleges from any given country, but also includes finer nuances of corporate culture which usually manifest in the values and subculture, which you find in different organizations as in engineering, marketing, sales etc.

There are attempts to measure this cultural fluency and determine a Cultural Quotient, CQ, which basically indicates

- how well an individual understands different cultures,

- can operate in different cultural environments and

- how flexible that individual is reacting to change.

Cultural fluency is very much rooted in having a good portion of empathy and a willingness to understand and listen, thus a high EQ. It also helps to be genuinely curious about the other culture and be aware of one’s own cultural imprint. This awareness is the only way to suspend judgment and be open to learn something new. It also helps if you’re open to adventure and change and can handle both with a creative approach.

The experience of differences in culture, i.e. behavior and customs often is strongest when we feel disconnected. This lack of connectedness can manifest in anger and fear, or just show up as ‘push back’ of whatever creates a conflict. The most important step to feel more at home in the different culture is creating this feeling of human connectedness, reaching out to other people and find commonalities and communicate on a deeper level to understand differences.

So how can you become better at understanding different cultures and drive synergies rather than create conflict?

The first step is of course becoming aware of differences:

Understand what motivates the people you work and interact with and what makes them tick.

1) How do they communicate and prefer to receive communication, direct or indirect? How do they give and receive Feedback?

2) What is the standing of an individual in this culture versus the importance of the group? How do people establish their boundaries, both formal and informal?

3) How do they strategize: do they start from a nucleus and then work outwards to a big picture or do they start big and then break it down?

4) How much supervision do you need? How independently do people execute their tasks, how much time needs to go into expectation setting, how detailed does this need to be? How often do you need to check in, how do you set control points?

5) How is hierarchy structured, is decision making a democratic process or is decision-making top down? How are decision made, in meetings, at dinner or both?

6) Do people work very process oriented, is their approach structured and formal, or the opposite?

Apart from the obvious, listening to people and reading about the culture, use your observation skills and immerse yourself. Talk to people and create some new connections and be curious about how things work and why. At the same time you need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable and unknowing. Go with the flow and realize it’s ok to not understand everything. You will not always uncover how the different culture works and most definitely won’t always understand the why. Build yourself a good support network where you can discuss differences and difficulties you might have. Get back in your comfort zone every now and then to just relax and find your balance. Like that you’ll be happy to get out there again soon and chase your next cultural adventure.

Julia Atkinson is Executive Coach and Consultant with more than 8 years experience of living and working in China before taking her business to the US, Chicago. Prior to starting an executive development firm, Julia spent 10 years leading teams in the IT and Telecommunication industries. Julia can be reached at julia@atkinson- coaching.com, www.atkinson-coaching.com