The importance of Cultural Intelligence for Professionals:

What exactly is cultural intelligence and why should professionals care?

In the interconnected world we live in and the current global economy that is developing, the ability to adapt to different cultures is essential, especially if you want to work for an international firm.

The pandemic situation has meant that distances and geographical barriers have diminished thanks to remote working and internet connectivity. This allows us to be in contact with other cultures on a daily basis, but how do we adapt and interact with colleagues or clients in a more culturally intelligent way?

What is cultural intelligence?

Cultural intelligence or CQ, as stated by David Livermore in his book "Leading with Cultural Intelligence", is a person's ability to function effectively in cross-cultural contexts, including different national, ethnic, organisational and generational contexts.

It is an advanced aspect of cultural sensitivity and enables the development of the ability to function effectively in a variety of cultural contexts, such as: ethnic, generational and organisational cultures.

Who is culturally intelligent?

When you ask yourself this question, you probably think that it is international travellers or people with the highest IQ who excel in CQ, but this is wrong. People with high cultural intelligence must meet these four capabilities:

CQ Drive: Enjoy, benefit from and have confidence in experiencing other cultures.

CQ Knowledge: Understanding, in general, the similarities and differences of different cultures and how it affects the way people think and behave.

CQ Strategy: Being attentive, aware and able to plan to adapt when interacting and working cross-culturally.

CQ Action: Change verbal and non-verbal behaviour appropriately when necessary in multicultural situations.

Do you recognise yourself as having any of these characteristics? If not, don't worry. Unlike IQ, the level of CQ is not fixed and can be developed through training. 

At Amolingua we train the cultural skills of our clients and students through our "Cultural Intelligence" course. You will learn how to develop it, understand the importance of values, stereotypes and how cultures differ in order to achieve effective management and/or development in international teams.

The importance of CQ in today's workplace:

As well as enabling the ability to adapt in a culturally diverse workplace. People who possess a higher level of cultural intelligence in turn perform better at work, especially in terms of judgement and decision-making, negotiation and cross-cultural adaptability. 

It is essential to recognise the importance of the perception of time and space in different cultures, as well as its influence on communication, especially in decision-making and team management.

This makes CQ increasingly important, one of the key soft skills that employers are looking for in their employees. 

For this reason, some companies incorporate CQ into their marketing strategy, others into their human resources programme to recruit, engage and retain their talent pool.

Developing our cultural intelligence will allow us to become true professionals with the drive, knowledge, strategy and behaviour that engages multicultural customers, leading to more effective results.

How can we determine our level of cultural intelligence or that of our clients?

The Center for Cultural Intelligence developed the first academically validated assessment in this area and continued its research to include options for students, individuals or multiple assessors. The CQ report indicates which skills are strengths and which need to be developed, and also includes your cultural value orientations compared to the norms of 10 global country groups.

Knowing your own values compared to those of your clients or colleagues is a useful tool for understanding how to minimise or prevent conflicts arising from communication problems, such as lack of consensus or conformity.

Research shows that professionals who see the strategic value of cultural intelligence are able to effectively influence cultural differences to gain a competitive advantage and win for themselves and their clients. "When CQ is integrated into practice, practitioners achieve greater results for their clients".