I attended a phenomenal Masterclass on Friday 26 March 2021 on Cultural Intelligence. I had to complete a pre on-line CQ assessment which produced a report which told me my levels of cultural intelligence across four domains. It was pretty accurate. Surprisingly so. I scored high in the areas of my personal drive on this area. Very true. I scored high on Knowledge, again, I pride myself in my capacity to be curious and learn. I scored moderately in terms of strategy which is probably true too as I spend more time on the former two domains and the next domain. And, on this last domain of Action I scored higher too. So, what is cultural intelligence exactly?
I’m not going to attempt to summarise the course or the brilliant books which David Livermore has written on Leading on Cultural Difference and Expand your Boarders. Instead I’m going to share with you my take on this and my personal experience which may or may not resonate with you.
What Livermore does do, however, is explain in quite simple terms that in order to get to high levels of cultural intelligence (I’m going to call this CQ from now on because I’m lazy), you need to work across and through 4 steps (dimensions):
CQ Drive (Motivational dimension) – the passion and energy to want to engage in cross cultural work.
CQ Knowledge (cognitive dimension) – provides us with an understanding of the basic cultural issues which equips us with what we need to do to progress the project or initiative we are working on.
CQ Strategy (metacognitive dimension) – which allows us to draw on our cultural understanding so that we can plan and interpret what’s going on in any given situation.
CQ Action (Behavioural Dimension)- provides us with the ability to engage in effective, flexible leadership for this task.
Indeed this is not a static process. As we repeat the steps above we have the potential of increasing our CQ – our cultural intelligence. So, your asking does everyone have the potential to increase their CQ? Yes, absolutely. Some people are naturally gifted too. There is a definite link to people who have open personalities and their capacity to be naturally gifted towards higher levels of CQ. However, just as someone who has a natural gift or genes for running, if this gift is not harnessed and the individual doesn’t train then they won’t be good runners. The same is true of CQ. Conversely someone who hasn’t got a natural gift towards CQ can learn to increase their levels of cultural intelligence by simply working through this model. However, without overstating the obvious you simply won’t become more culturally intelligent without moving through the steps and getting to the point at which this impacts on your changed behaviours in becoming a culturally intelligent and inclusive leader.
To become a more inclusive and truly empowering leader you have to transform the way you see other people. More often than not I’ve witnessed the slow demolition of colleagues who are trying to share truth to power. However, because leadership do not want to hear the truth and not be motivated to be more culturally intelligent, the problem becomes the subject themselves. Those who do not possess power and have experienced discrimination are scapegoated and are forced to retreat or leave altogether. This is the very sad reality in which our powerful institutions work. All the metrics and performance measures in the world aren’t going to change that. Nor strategies or policies.
Leaders who often are white males or females and more often than not able-bodied and heterosexual like to think they are championing diversity and inclusion. Who am I to question their intent? Yet, what I have found is that very little changes. There is a substantial lack of investment in EDI Leads and programmes. Yes, some funding is thrown in the direction of EDI work but often its piecemeal and inadequate. Much of it is not sustainable. This absolutely has to change. It is simply not good enough to keep talking about creating anti-racist organisations (and why are we not talking about creating anti-discriminatory organisations)?) without the resources to follow through on the structural dismantling of physical and attitudinal barriers which oppress the progression and growth of the wonderful talent that exists among our Black (Asian and other) Minorities, disabled people and anyone else who has a lived experience of exclusion. My personal narrative is that I am Blind and South Asian. I have experienced racism in all its ugly forms however I face discrimination every single day of my life because the world doesn’t seem to accommodate Blind people all that well. And, is that because there isn’t enough money to go around?
We have a long way to go. However, I am hopeful. I am extremely driven around this agenda and always will be. This is my voice – this is my power.
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