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What are the negative effect of Cognitive dissonance?

Cognitive dissonance is the uneasiness experienced when new verified information does not conform with one’s existing belief’s, ideas, attitudes or behavior. It is very important for leaders who are culturally intelligent to understand Cognitive dissonance and be prepared to tackle it. Culturally intelligent leaders who are unable to recognize and tackle dissonance in their beliefs, ideas, attitude or behavior are considered hypocrites (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).
Cognitive dissonance results in stress, discomfort, and frustration for individuals and organizations especially for people in departments such as risk management and human resources. This is because such people are forced to go against their belief system in the course of their duty which makes them unfulfilled and unhappy. These feelings affect their performance and state of mind which is unhealthy (Prvulovic, 2015). An example is an experience in my previous workplace. The management of the company where I used to work wasn’t been fair when paying incentive to some staff members. As the firm’s policy, staff members who complete any project assigned to them are entitled to a 10% incentive of the projected income. However, when such projects are completed, the management gives the agreed 10% to some staff while some others are given the incentive based on management’s discretion which is usually less than 10%. These incentive payments were implemented by me on management’s instructions. I couldn’t give appropriate answers to the questions of the affected staff members because when I pointed it out to the management I was told to let it go. This unfairness to certain staff members made me really unhappy and was one of the reasons I left the organization.
For leaders to minimize the impact of dissonance, Firstly, they have to recognize that there are discrepancies in the belief system, thereafter, it should be identified and addressed. Secondly, leaders are to ask themselves certain questions. According to Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, (2012).
leaders can ask questions like;
1.         What are my organization’s beliefs about culture?
2.         What dissonance is present in our beliefs and our behaviors?
3.         What gaps (in recruitment, within a policy, and in intrapersonal interactions) are created because of the dissonance?
4.         How is this dissonance stopping us from truly understanding culture?
Lastly, leaders should make effort to assist employees to deal with their dissonance because a good knowledge of employees’ dissonance will help both employees and organizations deal with intercultural situations (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).
 In other to change behaviors, Leaders ought to have the self-confidence that they are agents of change. Organizations and leaders who are flexible and adaptive in nature are likely to be change agents. Such organizations and leaders do not have strict rules rather they make decisions on a case by case basis. It is the duty of organizational leaders to train and teach about cultural intelligence because employees who are able to successfully practice cultural intelligence will be able to overcome cultural dissonance (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).
Also, Organizational leaders are expected to be attentive in other to detect specific areas where dissonance is present in other to address it so as to minimize the impact of cultural dissonance. Culture is very important and affects both individuals and organizations because it is the underlying principle that guides our actions and inactions. And this culture is different for everyone since we are from different backgrounds, generations and religion. Hence It is important for organizations to dialogue about cognitive dissonance in other to encourage cultural diversity (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).
Cultural Intelligence for Leaders (2012), mentioned 3 questions that can guide an individual when changing behavior. The first question determines the proposed change and gives direction on specific areas of change. The second question projects the end result of the change which serves as a motivating factor. The last question determines the degree of change, specifies and identifies which aspects of the person’s belief or value will undergo changes. These questions will enable employees to focus on the main issues in other to change successfully (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).
 In situations where change seems impossible, leaders can use words of affirmation and other motivational tools such as incentives and rewards to get responsive behavior (Cultural Intelligence for Leaders, 2012).



REFERENCES
Cultural Intelligence for Leaders (2012). Saylor Academy. Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0. Retrieved from: https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_leading-with-cultural-intelligence/index.html 

Prvulovic Goran (2015, April 25) Impacts of Cognitive Dissonance in the Workplace. Retrieved from: https://safetyrisk.net/impacts-of-cognitive-dissonance-in-the-workplace/

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