1.3 Cultural and Emotional Intelligence-compressed (practice)

PROMINENCE

PRACTICAL CULTURAL AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

The first part of this chapter will help you understand David Livermore’s cultural intelligence model for success in any unfamiliar cultural context.

- You will learn how to lead cross-culturally by applying a process with four key components: CQ drive, CQ knowledge, CQ strategy, and CQ action.

- By enhancing your CQ you will be able to handle cross-cultural obstacles in diverse situations.

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CQ Drive: What is your motivation?

The first step towards leading with cultural intelligence is addressing the motivational issues for ourselves. CQ drive measures the extent to which you are energised and persistent in your approach to culturally diverse situations.

CQ drive include three main areas: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and self-efficacy.

In determining your CQ drive, the following question can be asked: Do you have the confidence and drive to work through the challenges and conflicts that inevitably accompany crosscultural situations?

To improve your CQ drive: 1. Be honest with yourself.

2. Examine your confidence level.

1. Face your biases and act on them.

2. Connect with existing interests in another culture.

3. Scare yourself by imagining what would happen if you are not culturally savvy.

4. Visualise success.

5. Reward yourself.

6. Maintain control by reducing reliance on hosts.

7. Eat and socialise.

8. Travel.

CQ knowledge: What do I need to know?

CQ knowledge begins with understanding culture’s role of people’s thoughts, attitudes, and behaviours. It is discerning what is universal to all humans, what is attributable to specific cultures, and what is idiosyncratic to individuals.

CQ knowledge requires a basic grasp of the systems developed by cultures to deal with economics, family, education, legal issues, religion, and artistic expressions.

CQ knowledge includes: knowledge about cultural systems, norms, and values.

In determining your CQ knowledge, the following question can be asked: What cultural understanding do I need for this cross-cultural assignment?

To improve your CQ knowledge: Understand culture’s role in yourself and others.

Review the basic cultural systems.

Learn the core cultural values.

Understand different languages.

Explore your cultural identity.

Increase global awareness by reading relevant international and foreign news.

Go to the movies or read a novel.

CQ strategy: How should I plan?

CQ strategy is the way we answer the why questions behind what we experience and observe. The first way to answer these questions is by becoming more aware. Awareness prepares us for adaptations needed in cross-cultural situations.

CQ strategy includes: awareness, planning, and checking.

In determining your CQ strategy, the following question can be asked: What do I need to plan in order to do this cross-cultural assignment successfully?

To improve your CQ strategy: Plan your cross-cultural interactions.

Check to see if your assumptions and plans were appropriate.

Focus deeply and embrace mindfulness.

Manage expectations.

Ask better questions, probe more deeply into what is behind something you observe.

CQ action: What behaviours do I need to adjust?

CQ action includes: verbal behaviour, nonverbal behaviour, and speech acts.

In determining your CQ action, the following question can be asked: What behaviours should I adapt for this cross-cultural assignment?

To improve your CQ action: Adapt your communication.

Negotiate differently.

Know when to flex and when not to flex.

Develop a repertoire of social skills.

Learn what practices and taboos are most important for the key regions where you work.

Look for consistent feedback.

Develop a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate jokes and language directed toward any specific cultural group.

Organisations frequently appoint leaders for their IQ. Later, they sack them for their lack of EQ. David Livermore, the author of Leading with Cultural Intelligence argues that cultural intelligence is the number one predictor of success in the modern workplace.

Businesses use cues to understand how sensitive and adaptable their candidate is to ways of working and living that differ from their own.

1. Have you learned anything interesting or exciting about another culture in the last six months? If, yes, how did you learn about it?

2. Can you describe a time when you had to work crossculturally? How did you navigate the different goals and workstyles across teams?

3. Describe a situation where you had to adjust your behaviour in order to make others feel comfortable? What did you do?

4. Have you ever had a perception of a different culture that was ultimately proven wrong? How did you adapt to this information?

5. Think about your own culture. Do you think that being part of that culture has made it harder or easier for you to succeed?

Questions to Consider:

1) To what degree do you consider the views and decisions of your extended family when deciding? Why? 2) Have you seen generational shifts in the values of respect, authority, and leadership?

3) Can you think of a time when you experienced a cultural challenge that might be explained by the uncertainty avoidance cultural value?

4) To what degree do you pay attention to someone’s body language when they are communicating?

5) Were you brought up in a family where emotions were mostly expressed or cloaked? How does that influence the way you view others’ expressiveness?

6) Think of a time you were stereotyped. Was it positive or negative? How did you respond?

7) Think of a German product and describe how the Germanic cultural values are evident.

8) What is the one thing that you can do in the next five days to further develop your cultural intelligence?

The second part of this chapter will help you improve your emotional intelligence.

¡- You will examine the five elements of emotional intelligence developed by Daniel Goleman and examine how you can grow as a leader.

Emotional Intelligence is the foundation for critical skills.

Two thirds of people are controlled by emotions.

There are five core feelings: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and shame.

Emotional hijacking takes place when feelings override reason, leading to reactions stemming purely from emotion.

While the emotion itself cannot be disposed of or trained, the thoughts and reaction immediately following can be, provided the person is aware and alert.

Leaders with high emotional intelligence share some important qualities: 1. They are not perfectionists. If they make a mistake, they will adjust and learn from it.

2. They embrace change. Being afraid of change hinders success, so they adapt to the changes around them and always have a plan in place should any sort of change occur.

3. They are empathetic. Being able to relate to others, show compassion, and take the time to help someone are all crucial components of emotional intelligence. Being empathic makes people with emotional intelligence curious about other people and leads them to ask lots of questions whenever they meet someone new.

4. They know their strengths and weaknesses. Emotionally intelligent people know what they are good at and what they are not so great at. They have not just accepted their strengths and weaknesses; they also know how to leverage their strengths and weaknesses by working with the right people in the right situation.

5. They are self-motivated. Being a real go-getter, even at a young age, is another quality possessed by people with emotional intelligence.

6. They set boundaries. People with high emotional intelligence have the power to establish boundaries. It prevents them from getting overwhelmed, burned out, and stressed because they have too many commitments.

7. They are a good judge of character. They have social awareness; the ability to read other people.

8. They are difficult to offend. Emotionally intelligent people are self-confident and open-minded, which creates a pretty thick skin.

9. They neutralise toxic people. Individual with high emotional intelligence control their interactions with toxic people by keeping their feelings in check. When they need to confront a toxic person, they approach the situation rationally.

Even when things completely derail, emotionally intelligent people are able to take the toxic person with a grain of salt to avoid letting him or her bring them down.

10. They get enough sleep. Individuals with high emotional intelligence know that their self-control, attention, and memory are all reduced when they do not get enough sleep.

Thus, they make sleep a top priority.

Questions to Consider:

1. What are the consequences of not understanding our emotions?

2. What role do emotions play in the workplace?

3. How are emotional intelligence skills visible in current events today? Discuss politicians, celebrities, athletes, businesspeople.

4. What are the benefits of emotional intelligence?