Week 48: Conscious Inclusion – Listening for Context and Culture

Welcome to week 48 of Love is True Intelligence. This week, we return to Conscious Inclusion – Listening for context and culture.

Have you ever thought you and a colleague agreed only to discover that was not so? I know I have. This is something that I actively work on. It is especially important when interacting with friends and colleagues from different cultures and may have different ways of communicating.

To be consciously inclusive when listening means considering not just listening to the words but also considering the context and the culture of the speaker. For example, I'm half Japanese and was born and raised in the US. My personal communication style is more akin to the US – low context and direct. In contrast, in Japan, communication tends to be indirect and highly contextual.

Here is an example. I was working with a colleague who was born and raised in Japan. She replied that the work assignment she was given would be "very, very difficult." One of my colleagues thought, "Great, it's hard, but she'll get it done." I suggested that we check-in. Upon talking further, we learned that the team member was not planning to do the assignment. So why did she not just say do directly? She was relying on us to understand the cultural and contextual nuance.

Thankfully, we could talk about the assignment, the challenges, and the expectations to agree on the work product so that she felt confident she could meet the expectations. We had a candid, respectful discussion based on achieving a common goal. We averted what would have been a very unpleasant surprise.

The next time you think you are in agreement with expectations, pause for a moment – have you confirmed?

The next time you think someone is rude, pause for a moment - were they rude or simply very direct?

The next time you think someone is not contributing, pause for a moment – were they waiting until someone invited them to contribute?

Remembering that listening is just as much about culture and context as words is an act of love as true intelligence.

This week, your assignment is to consider culture and context in your interactions with others. Please share what you notice so that we all learn more from each other.

See you next week.

Ai – Love is True Intelligence

Ai, pronounced "eye," is the Chinese and Japanese word for deep, all-encompassing love.

#love

#leadership

#diversity

#inclusion

#diversityequityinclusion