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Define Cultural intelligence


            Cultural intelligence can be described as an outsider’s seemingly natural ability to interpret someone’s unfamiliar and ambiguous gestures the way that person’s compatriots would, (Earley and Mosakowski, 2004, October), it is also explained as someone’s ability to adapt successfully to a new cultural setting. (mind tools, n.d).

            Cultural intelligence emphasizes three areas of metacognition and cognition, which represents one’s ability to think, learn and strategize, second is motivation which is the self-efficacy and confidence, the ability to be persistent and the alignment to one’s personal values, and thirdly Behavior which is about one’s ability to have repertoire of skills and the ability to adapt his behavior. (cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012).

            The framework for Cultural intelligence consists of knowledge, strategic thinking, motivation, and behavior, thought about as ABCs of cultural intelligence: Acquire, Build, Contemplate, and Do. (cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012).

(A), Acquire knowledge, this involves acquiring knowledge of how a culture in general shapes someone’s behaviors, values and beliefs, (mind tools, n.d), this knowledge determines leaders inter- and cross-cultural interactions while working with cultures different from their own, it is important for leaders to appreciate the knowledge of how cultures are created, interpreted, and shared, as well as how cultural interpretations, meaning, and symbols can impact behaviors and attitudes. (cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012).

(B),Build your strategic thinking; once knowledge about the culture is gained, the incumbent leader has to figure out how it will get used, what part of the knowledge will get used, and if it will fit in the given cultural setting, the leader has to build capacity that enables him to be aware of his surrounding through preparation and planning, this is often called metacognition, in other words it is how  a leader thinks about, or make of the knowledge and use it in a way that helps him better perform and interact with different cultures. (cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012).

C, contemplate your motivation and ability to work with others; this relates to how you behave, and, in particular, how well you adapt when things don’t go according to plan, (mind tools, n.d), this component is concerned with one’s ability to pay attention to his surroundings as well as his response to unfamiliar situations.         It is about reflecting on one’s own interests, drive and motivation as well as the willingness to work through, and with cultural interactions. (cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012).

Adapt and Perform; this last component of cultural intelligence is concerned with one’s adaptability, and ability to perform new behaviors based on the new cultural surroundings, a culturally intelligent leader has to be aware of how others see him and how he comes across to them, how he interprets what others say, and how he responds to them, (cultural intelligence for leaders, n.d), must conform to the new cultural environment.

Whereas Emotional intelligence is one’s ability and capacity to identify, assess, and manage one’s emotions as well as other’s emotions and Social intelligence, the ability and capacity to sense one’s inner state, feelings and thoughts in relation to one’s social environment and react appropriately in this environment for social success, cultural intelligence theory includes the influence of cultural factors and their impact in intercultural interactions, culturally intelligent people have the ability to steer their way through unfamiliar cultural interactions gained through acquiring knowledge and learning about the unfamiliar culture,  motivate themselves and adapt the behavior of the culture. (cultural intelligence for leaders, 2012).

The increased connectivity across all companies and individuals as the World changed into a global village, which has enhanced global collaboration between businesses cultural intelligence is not a choice but a pre-requisite for this global business success, it means greater access to resources for companies, knowledge and talent which offer a dynamic working approach that isn’t relegated to a single location, although this means that knowledge gaps in terms of different cultures and customs are now being  exposed a lot more, notes Hodge(2017, April 18).



         

Reference:

P. Christopher Earley and Elaine Mosakowski, 2004, October, Cultural intelligence, Harvard Business Review, retrieved September 21, 2018, from                                                       https://hbr.org/2004/10/cultural-           intelligence

Mind tools, n.d, cultural intelligence, retrieved September 21, 2018, from             https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/cultural-intelligence.htm

Cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012, Saylor Academy. Creative commons by-nc-sa 3.0,           retrieved September 21, 2018, from                                                                                   https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/325629/mod_page/content/5/BUS5211Textbook.            Pdf

Anthony Hodge, 2017, April 18, Randstad, the importance of cultural intelligence within a global    organization, retrieved September 21, 2018, from                                                  https://www.randstad.com/workforce-            insights/workforce360/archives/the-importance-of-cultural-intelligence-within-a-global-  organization_186/

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