How to boost your cultural intelligence Wai Loon Lee CMgr has to deal with stakeholders in 12 countries, each with different cultural norms and expectations. The key to dealing with this effectively, he says, is cultural intelligence. Cultural intelligence, or CQ, is a subset or continuation of emotional intelligence and can apply to businesses and local cultures, as well as national ones. It involves a lot of active listening and keen observation. Here’s a definition from Elaine Mosakowski and P. Christopher Earley in the Harvard Business Review: “Knowing what makes groups tick is as important as understanding individuals… A person with high emotional intelligence grasps what makes us human and at the same time what makes each of us different from one another. A person with high cultural intelligence can somehow tease out of a person’s or a group’s behaviour those features that would be true of all people and all groups, those peculiar to this person or this group, and those that are neither universal nor idiosyncratic.” Lee, who’s a transformation manager for the energy giant Shell, learned about the concept from CMI’s ManagementDirect resource and during his current executive MBA course. However, his own cultural intelligence has been honed through dealings with various cultures around the organisation. “I’m based in Singapore,” he says. “Generally, people in South East 60 — SPRING 202 1
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“i’ve always had an abundance of confidence – it’s almost the opposite of imposter syndrome! However, CMI taught me introspection and helped me further develop existing skills such as empathy and humility, because confidence alone isn’t enough. “I’ve worked in the charity and not-for-profit sector for 38 years, supporting disadvantaged children and adults across east London, as well as colleagues who have been bullied. My ethos is about honesty, trust and integrity. They’re traits that I’ve incorporated into my working life thanks to my phenomenal CMI course supervisor. “I wasn’t always like this. I was mischievous and troublesome at school and was always being reprimanded. I was the kid who would get caught running in the corridors. “As I grew up and matured, I realised that who I was at school wasn’t the person I wanted to be. There were teachers and people on my side who encouraged me to be a better person. I remember thinking, ‘If someone
“ There are three components to cultural intelligence: cognitive, physical and emotional/ motivational” Asia are quite receptive and patient. Having exposure to those colleagues gave me a start as I then began working across other regions.” There are three components to cultural intelligence: cognitive, physical and emotional/motivational. Lee says that he exercises the first component daily – by, for example, using the first half-hour of meeting
a new person or group to identify their key personal and cultural traits. The second component is about understanding mannerisms and reflecting those back at someone. Being comfortable with cultural customs like this can be a crucial way to build trust. The third component is essentially about resilience and being able to
