According to Cultural Intelligence for Leaders (2012), the four areas of cultural intelligence are Reframing, Adaptive Work, Interdependency, And Consciousness. These areas of cultural intelligence will enable leaders to comprehend the intricacies of culture and intercultural challenges.
Reframing: This is the ability to change one’s perspective of a culture, be open-minded and receptive. Reframing as an area of cultural intelligence equip leaders with the ability to accommodate and adjust to other cultures and intercultural situations. Leaders are able to have a mind shift which takes them from “mindlessness” to “mindfulness”. Leaders realize their past cultural mistakes that impacted their leadership style negatively and are able to make better choices. It is important for global leaders to reframe their thinking in other to succeed as this will aid efficient interactions between people and create lasting intercultural relationships (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Adaptive Work: This involves a transformation in attitude, principles, values and belief system which should be evaluated often in other to be Intune with the cultural setting. Cultural intelligence helps leaders adapt to different cultural conditions, it also enables leaders to deal effectively with cognitive dissonance and prepares them for intercultural challenges (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Interdependency: Globalization has resulted in massive interdependence of people from diverse cultural settings, hence, leaders are expected to know the dynamics of cultural relations in cross-cultural settings. To understand this, they must be specific about their motive for cultural interactions in other to detect discrepancies. This is important because to create cultural awareness, a leader needs to be able to leverage on his/her passion, experience and drive to achieve his/her goal (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Consciousness: This is the leader’s ability to create a balance and learn from different aspects and perspectives. It requires seeing things as complements rather than competition. It also involves being intentional about one’s actions and inactions which will be instrumental in intercultural situations (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Organizational Leaders can reframe their thinking when dealing with employees of different cultures by changing their perspective and being open to other perspectives. This means encouraging full participation of employees and considering suggestions and contributions of employees for the good of the organization. They have to see every challenge or situation as a learning point and leverage on it by turning it into a positive situation. Leaders are also required to show empathy to employees and avoid bias and favoritism (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Leaders who utilize adaptive work are able to survive conflict situations as well as cognitive dissonance that may arise as a result of diverse beliefs, values, or behaviors. The methods that can be utilized by a leader are “review, revise and reflect”. Leaders are encouraged to review, revise and reflect on their individual values and evaluate them to determine how it affects their cultural relations (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
By reviewing the belief system, a leader will be able to discover inconsistencies and therefore he/she can adjust to accommodate other cultural views which is the revised method. Revising entails that a leader adapts through observing and learning from other cultures and not just make decisions or conclusions based on personal assumptions and experiences. As a reflective measure, it is important for leaders to reflect on the activities of the day, a given project or a decision in other to give room for improved results. Also, opinions, contributions, and perspectives of others should be utilized and integrated into the given culture (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Leaders can show interdependence by making sure there are no limitations or hindrances in the way they act, interact or make decisions in intercultural settings. They have to cultivate good relationships void of strive. Leaders must set a standard and a clear vision and mission for followers to emulate which will serve as director. It is also important for leaders to make their followers understand the consequences of working otherwise and instill in them the knowledge that cultural diversity is the responsibility of everyone (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Being culturally conscious means being aware of one’s self and environment. Culturally conscious leaders are leaders who are aware of their culture and mindful of the culture that exist in their environment. Such leaders are able to create a balance between diverse cultures and improve themselves which makes it possible for them to impact on others (Quappe and Cantatore, 2007).
Successful leaders are those who have equipped themselves culturally because they deal with people from different cultures hence they are able to interact and succeed efficiently in intercultural settings. Culturally conscious leaders are able to gain the trust of their followers since they exhibit cultural intelligence skills. They encourage innovation and creativity as well as build and maintain healthy relationships. Additionally, they become the source of information since they have vast cultural knowledge (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-intelligndex.html
Quappe S. and Cantatore G. (2007). What Is Cultural Awareness, Anyway? How Do I Build It? Retrieved from : http://www.culturosity.com/articles/whatisculturalawareness.htm
Reframing: This is the ability to change one’s perspective of a culture, be open-minded and receptive. Reframing as an area of cultural intelligence equip leaders with the ability to accommodate and adjust to other cultures and intercultural situations. Leaders are able to have a mind shift which takes them from “mindlessness” to “mindfulness”. Leaders realize their past cultural mistakes that impacted their leadership style negatively and are able to make better choices. It is important for global leaders to reframe their thinking in other to succeed as this will aid efficient interactions between people and create lasting intercultural relationships (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Adaptive Work: This involves a transformation in attitude, principles, values and belief system which should be evaluated often in other to be Intune with the cultural setting. Cultural intelligence helps leaders adapt to different cultural conditions, it also enables leaders to deal effectively with cognitive dissonance and prepares them for intercultural challenges (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Interdependency: Globalization has resulted in massive interdependence of people from diverse cultural settings, hence, leaders are expected to know the dynamics of cultural relations in cross-cultural settings. To understand this, they must be specific about their motive for cultural interactions in other to detect discrepancies. This is important because to create cultural awareness, a leader needs to be able to leverage on his/her passion, experience and drive to achieve his/her goal (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Consciousness: This is the leader’s ability to create a balance and learn from different aspects and perspectives. It requires seeing things as complements rather than competition. It also involves being intentional about one’s actions and inactions which will be instrumental in intercultural situations (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Organizational Leaders can reframe their thinking when dealing with employees of different cultures by changing their perspective and being open to other perspectives. This means encouraging full participation of employees and considering suggestions and contributions of employees for the good of the organization. They have to see every challenge or situation as a learning point and leverage on it by turning it into a positive situation. Leaders are also required to show empathy to employees and avoid bias and favoritism (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Leaders who utilize adaptive work are able to survive conflict situations as well as cognitive dissonance that may arise as a result of diverse beliefs, values, or behaviors. The methods that can be utilized by a leader are “review, revise and reflect”. Leaders are encouraged to review, revise and reflect on their individual values and evaluate them to determine how it affects their cultural relations (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
By reviewing the belief system, a leader will be able to discover inconsistencies and therefore he/she can adjust to accommodate other cultural views which is the revised method. Revising entails that a leader adapts through observing and learning from other cultures and not just make decisions or conclusions based on personal assumptions and experiences. As a reflective measure, it is important for leaders to reflect on the activities of the day, a given project or a decision in other to give room for improved results. Also, opinions, contributions, and perspectives of others should be utilized and integrated into the given culture (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Leaders can show interdependence by making sure there are no limitations or hindrances in the way they act, interact or make decisions in intercultural settings. They have to cultivate good relationships void of strive. Leaders must set a standard and a clear vision and mission for followers to emulate which will serve as director. It is also important for leaders to make their followers understand the consequences of working otherwise and instill in them the knowledge that cultural diversity is the responsibility of everyone (cultural Intelligence for leaders, 2012).
Being culturally conscious means being aware of one’s self and environment. Culturally conscious leaders are leaders who are aware of their culture and mindful of the culture that exist in their environment. Such leaders are able to create a balance between diverse cultures and improve themselves which makes it possible for them to impact on others (Quappe and Cantatore, 2007).
Successful leaders are those who have equipped themselves culturally because they deal with people from different cultures hence they are able to interact and succeed efficiently in intercultural settings. Culturally conscious leaders are able to gain the trust of their followers since they exhibit cultural intelligence skills. They encourage innovation and creativity as well as build and maintain healthy relationships. Additionally, they become the source of information since they have vast cultural knowledge (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-intelligndex.html
Quappe S. and Cantatore G. (2007). What Is Cultural Awareness, Anyway? How Do I Build It? Retrieved from : http://www.culturosity.com/articles/whatisculturalawareness.htm
Comments
Post a Comment