Cultural Intelligence, or CQ, is the capability to work and relate effectively across any number of different cultural contexts.
These days, there are many ways to have conflict or misunderstandings with people where we live and work. Many people work across cultural borders or with people who have come from other countries. Others work with a diversity of cultures closer to home. Maybe you are working with refugees. Or maybe you work with people from different ethnicities or gender orientations. And then there is the generational or organizational cultural differences.
How do we work and communicate with people who are different from us? We need to develop our CQ.
Developing our CQ, or Cultural Intelligence, involves growing our drive to learn about others, increasing our knowledge about the cultures we are working with, planning a strategy and putting that plan into action. Studies show these four capabilities are critical in successfully connecting across cultures. We can expand our CQ!
Culture matters! Cultural Intelligence is needed. We need it!
Leslie P Johnson 