Cultural intelligence (CQ) is the ability to understand and adapt to unfamiliar cultural settings; and it is composed of cognition/metacognition, motivation and behaviour (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).
On the other hand, cultural intelligence is a concept which is made up of 3 interdependent parts namely: cultural knowledge, cross-cultural skills, and cultural metacognition (IESE Business School, 2015).
The CQ model consists of 4 tenets which are inter-related namely: Acquire, Build, Contemplate, & Do (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).
Acquisition of knowledge, which is the first stage of the CQ model, comprises of gaining knowledge regarding unfamiliar cultures using available information and other relevant sources. In order to decipher unfamiliar cultures, it is imperative that a leader gains adequate knowledge in order to comprehend intended meanings.
The second sequential step involves Building strategic thinking & is also termed metacognition. Metacognition implies the appropriate application of knowledge gained in the preceding phase to particular cultural settings. Thus, this stage of metacognition deals with the ability to strategically apply the right knowledge to the right cultural setting.
The third stage of Contemplation refers to self-reflection or self-evaluation of one’s cultural surroundings without bias in order to delineate salient facts. It involves taking a step back and critically analysing your drive and motivation in relation to the cultural settings of your external environment (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).
The fourth and final stage of Do implies the ability of leaders to adapt to new or different cultural settings. It involves an in-depth understanding or how one is being perceived by others and also on how to respond appropriately to them. It basically entails flexibility to different and unfamiliar cultural settings by culturally intelligent leaders.
Unlike cultural intelligence which bothers on the ability to adapt to disparate cultural settings, Emotional Intelligence refers to the ability to comprehend one’s emotions and aptly apply such knowledge in relation to the emotions of others while Social Intelligence is defined as the ability of an individual to relate one’s inner feelings with the external social environment, with the aim of establishing an optimal success in social interactions (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).
Furthermore, emotional intelligence entails a high degree of self-awareness of how a leader is being perceived by his followers; the ability of a leader to demonstrate empathy and concern to his employees; the ability of a leader to display a high level of accountability for his decisions and actions and thus cascade a high level of performance from his subordinates; and finally an emotionally intelligent leader should portray articulate verbal communication skills which will be aptly used in quick resolution of conflicts between fellow employees (Kokemuller, n.d.).
Cultural Intelligence is crucial in today’s global economy because employees nowadays tend to be of diverse cultural backgrounds and as such conflicts are usually unavoidable within the workplace. Moreover, clients from different countries pose a huge challenge in today’s global market because relationships become strained if cultural competence in leadership is not being given the due recognition it deserves.
It is thus imperative that cultural competence be embedded in the leadership skills of managers, such that prompt conflict resolution can be initiated amongst employees of diversified cultural backgrounds and a cordial relationship can be maintained between an organization and its geographically global clients (Fagnani, n.d.).
As a footnote, when culturally competent leaders are at the helm of affairs of an organization, they tend to treat employees of varying cultural backgrounds with fairness and utmost respect and this bolsters employee motivation, which is tantamount to optimal productivity and maximum financial returns (Fagnani, n.d.).
REFERENCES
Cultural Intelligence for Leaders (2012). Saylor Academy. Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0.
• Chapter 1: Cultural Intelligent Leadership Matters
• Chapter 3: Cultural Intelligence Defined
IESE Business School (2015). Why You Need Cultural Intelligence (And How To Develop It). Forbes.com. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/iese/2015/03/24/why-you-need-cultural-intelligence-and-how-to-develop-it/#400eb8d217d6
Fagnani, S. (n.d.). Influence of Cultural Competency on Leadership Performance. Retrieved from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/influence-cultural-competency-leadership-performance-16707.html
Kokemuller, N. (n.d). The Most Important Traits of Leadership with Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/important-traits-leadership-emotional-intelligence-81165.html
On the other hand, cultural intelligence is a concept which is made up of 3 interdependent parts namely: cultural knowledge, cross-cultural skills, and cultural metacognition (IESE Business School, 2015).
The CQ model consists of 4 tenets which are inter-related namely: Acquire, Build, Contemplate, & Do (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).
Acquisition of knowledge, which is the first stage of the CQ model, comprises of gaining knowledge regarding unfamiliar cultures using available information and other relevant sources. In order to decipher unfamiliar cultures, it is imperative that a leader gains adequate knowledge in order to comprehend intended meanings.
The second sequential step involves Building strategic thinking & is also termed metacognition. Metacognition implies the appropriate application of knowledge gained in the preceding phase to particular cultural settings. Thus, this stage of metacognition deals with the ability to strategically apply the right knowledge to the right cultural setting.
The third stage of Contemplation refers to self-reflection or self-evaluation of one’s cultural surroundings without bias in order to delineate salient facts. It involves taking a step back and critically analysing your drive and motivation in relation to the cultural settings of your external environment (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).
The fourth and final stage of Do implies the ability of leaders to adapt to new or different cultural settings. It involves an in-depth understanding or how one is being perceived by others and also on how to respond appropriately to them. It basically entails flexibility to different and unfamiliar cultural settings by culturally intelligent leaders.
Unlike cultural intelligence which bothers on the ability to adapt to disparate cultural settings, Emotional Intelligence refers to the ability to comprehend one’s emotions and aptly apply such knowledge in relation to the emotions of others while Social Intelligence is defined as the ability of an individual to relate one’s inner feelings with the external social environment, with the aim of establishing an optimal success in social interactions (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).
Furthermore, emotional intelligence entails a high degree of self-awareness of how a leader is being perceived by his followers; the ability of a leader to demonstrate empathy and concern to his employees; the ability of a leader to display a high level of accountability for his decisions and actions and thus cascade a high level of performance from his subordinates; and finally an emotionally intelligent leader should portray articulate verbal communication skills which will be aptly used in quick resolution of conflicts between fellow employees (Kokemuller, n.d.).
Cultural Intelligence is crucial in today’s global economy because employees nowadays tend to be of diverse cultural backgrounds and as such conflicts are usually unavoidable within the workplace. Moreover, clients from different countries pose a huge challenge in today’s global market because relationships become strained if cultural competence in leadership is not being given the due recognition it deserves.
It is thus imperative that cultural competence be embedded in the leadership skills of managers, such that prompt conflict resolution can be initiated amongst employees of diversified cultural backgrounds and a cordial relationship can be maintained between an organization and its geographically global clients (Fagnani, n.d.).
As a footnote, when culturally competent leaders are at the helm of affairs of an organization, they tend to treat employees of varying cultural backgrounds with fairness and utmost respect and this bolsters employee motivation, which is tantamount to optimal productivity and maximum financial returns (Fagnani, n.d.).
REFERENCES
Cultural Intelligence for Leaders (2012). Saylor Academy. Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0.
• Chapter 1: Cultural Intelligent Leadership Matters
• Chapter 3: Cultural Intelligence Defined
IESE Business School (2015). Why You Need Cultural Intelligence (And How To Develop It). Forbes.com. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/iese/2015/03/24/why-you-need-cultural-intelligence-and-how-to-develop-it/#400eb8d217d6
Fagnani, S. (n.d.). Influence of Cultural Competency on Leadership Performance. Retrieved from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/influence-cultural-competency-leadership-performance-16707.html
Kokemuller, N. (n.d). The Most Important Traits of Leadership with Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/important-traits-leadership-emotional-intelligence-81165.html
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