Each culture has certainly its own specific expectations which are different from other cultures. In the growingly connected world in which we are living in, it’s highly significant to be able to work efficiently across cultures. You should be first familiar with the concept of cultural intelligence. Cultural intelligence refers to the ability to communicate efficiently with people from different cultures. It includes comprehension and respecting cultural differences, and the ability to adjust your own behavior to those differences. Individuals who possess a high cultural intelligence can successfully interact with different cultures since they can easily manage the complications of different cultures They can easily create trust and harmony rapidly, and they know how to efficiently interact with people from different cultures.
How culturally intelligent are you?
1.You can identify and adjust to cultural differences
2.You can understand unfamiliar situations and match.
3.You can accept that you do not know everything.
4.You can remove the barriers and become successful in different cultures
5.You can adapt to the changeability of cultures, habits, gestures, and assumptions
If you have two of the mentioned characteristics, you probably have cultural intelligence.
Four cultural intelligence elements
Cultural intelligence usually has four components including motivation (CQ Drive), cognition (CQ Knowledge), meta-cognition (CQ Strategy), and behavior (CQ Action). If you want to undergo a CQ assessment, you must pass all of these four components. All of these four components are briefly explained.
1. Motivation (CQ-Drive)
Motivation (CQ-Drive) refers to o the passion and trust to work efficiently in environments where different cultures exist. Those who possess high CQ-Drive are keen to gain knowledge about other cultures and to communicate with people from various cultures. They are eager to know how other cultures think and function, and they face challenges bravely.
2. Cognition (CQ-Knowledge)
Cognition (CQ-Knowledge) refers to the knowledge of a person about differences and similarities between cultures. People who have a good CQ-Knowledge are completely aware of different cultures including their customs, values, beliefs, etc. They can view the world from different points of view and can effortlessly adjust to new situations.
3. Meta-cognition (CQ-Strategy)
Meta-cognition (CQ-Strategy) refers to the understanding of a person of culturally different experiences. It happens when people judge their own experiences and those of others. Those who have a good CQ-Strategy understand how to handle cultural differences and can solve conflict efficiently.
4. Behavior (CQ-Action)
Behavior (CQ-Action) refers to the ability of a person to adjust his behavior to make it suitable to diverse cultures. It includes creating a flexible collection of behavioral reactions that is appropriate for different situations
Why is cultural intelligence important?
Cultural intelligence refers to the capability to comprehend and manage different cultures. It’s a significant ability to cultivate in this diverse world, where it is highly probable to face people from other cultures in our living environments. Cultural intelligence has many amazing advantages. For example, it can save you from misunderstandings and miscommunications with coworkers from different cultures and it can help remove the divisions between people. It can also help you interact with people from other cultures effectively and create a more cooperative and innovative work environment. Cultural intelligence in business refers to constructive relationships with colleagues and clients, successful sales achievements in different markets, and desirable customer service across the world.
10 ways to create cultural intelligence
If you want to succeed in the growingly diverse world, you are required to develop your cultural intelligence. You can use the following tips to develop it:
- Become familiar with your cultural background. You must be completely familiar with your own culture and how other people think about it.
- Try to gain knowledge about other cultures. You must constantly learn about the customs, values, and beliefs of other cultures. You must know their differences. This will help you recognize and appreciate differences. You can use different strategies like reading books, watching movies, and talking to people from other cultures to become better familiar with their customs and beliefs. When you want to travel to other countries or cities, talk to the local people, and concentrate on their habits, behaviors, and foods.
- Look for opportunities to communicate with people from other cultures. You can look for different situations and opportunities to interact with people from different cultures.
- Try to know your cultural biases and beliefs. You must be aware of your own thoughts and behaviors.
- Be unprejudiced. If you think that the way you are doing things is “normal” and “the right way” you should know that it is a very frequent mistake. To have successful interactions in diverse cultural environments, you must be unprejudiced and eager to accept that different people do things in different ways. You must not impose your own culture on others – rather, become familiar with their culture and try to view things from their point of view.
- Be adaptable. Flexibility is one of the most significant facets of cultural intelligence. You must not expect things to go as you like in cross-cultural communications, so you must be flexible and adapt your behavior accordingly.
- Be patient. You must be patient since people cannot instantly understand your culture or perspective. It is time-taking.
- Communicate efficiently. To be successful in cross-cultural interactions you must be able to communicate well. You must become familiar with effective communication across cultures. Ensure you are comprehensible and brief in your communication and understand potential language obstacles.
- Concentrate on building relationships. Building relationships is important for having successful cultural interactions. Try to know people from different cultures, and prove to them that you are attracted to their culture and lifestyle. You must be always curious. When you can successfully build real relationships with people from other cultures, they will probably forgive your mistakes.
- Learn different languages. When can learn a new language, you can convey the same idea in many different ways. Learning other languages can help you understand other cultures and their thoughts.
