Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1: CULTURE MATTERS: WHY YOU NEED CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE
Leadership today is a multicultural challenge. Few of us need to be convinced of that. We’re competing in a global marketplace a managing a diverse workforce, and trying to keep up with rapidly shifting trends. But many approaches to this leadership challenge either seem way too simplistic (e.g., “Smile, avoid these three taboos, and you’ll be fine”) or way too extreme (e.g., “Don’t go anywhere until you’re a cross-cultural guru”). Cultural intelligence (CQ) offers a better way. The four capabilities presented in this book can help you navigate any intercultural situation.
What are the biggest hindrances to reaching your goals personally and professionally? How do you effectively lead a culturally diverse team? What kinds of cultural situations bring you the greatest level of fatigue? How do you give instructions for an assignment to a Norwegian team member versus one from China? What kind of training should you design for an implementation team coming from multiple cultural backgrounds? How do you get feedback from a colleague who comes from a culture that values saving face above direct, straightforward feedback? And how can you possibly keep up with all the different cultural scenarios that surface in our rapidly globalizing world? These are the kinds of questions that will be answered by developing your cultural intelligence.
All my life I’ve been fascinated by cultures. From as far back as when I was a Canadian American kid growing up in New York, a was intrigued by the differences my family would encounter on our trips across the border to visit our relatives in Canada. The multicolored money, the different ways of saying things, and the varied cuisine we found after passing through customs drew me in.
I’ve learned far more about leadership, global issues, and my faith from cross-cultural experiences and work than from any graduate course I’ve ever taken or taught. I’ve made people laugh when
I’ve stumbled through a different language or inadvertently eaten something the “wrong” way. I’ve winced upon later discovering a offended a group of ethnically different colleagues because I spent too much time complimenting them. I’m a better leader, teacher a father, friend, and citizen because of the intercultural friendships
I’ve forged through my work. And through the fascinating domain of cultural intelligence, I’ve discovered an enriched way to understand and prepare for my work across borders.
Cultural intelligence is the capability to function effectively across national, ethnic, and organizational cultures.1 It can be learned by most anyone. Cultural intelligence offers leaders an overall repertoire and perspective that can be applied to myriad cultural situations. It’s an approach that includes four different capabilities a enabling us to meet the fast-paced demands of leadership in the global age. This book describes how to gain the competitive edge and finesse that comes from using these four capabilities to lead with cultural intelligence. Think about a cross-cultural project or situation facing you. Take a minute and walk through the four capabilities of CQ right now:
1. CQ Drive: What’s your motivation for engaging with the cultural dimensions of this project?
2. CQ Knowledge: What cultural differences will most influence this project?
3. CQ Strategy: How will you plan in light of the cultural differences?
4. CQ Action: How do you need to adapt your behavior to function effectively on this project?
If you don’t have a clue how to answer some of these questions,
I’ll get to all that. But before more fully describing cultural intelligence and how to develop it, we need to spend a few minutes understanding its relevance to leadership.
