In part 2 of my article on Cultural Intelligence (CQ), I spoke about how cultural intelligence can be applied at the workplace. In this part, I discuss the different components of CQ. In 2023, I strongly advise organisations to consider incorporating cultural intelligence in the formulation of their strategies.
A culturally intelligent organisation is, amongst others, productive and coherent as a team
With more organisations adapting and incorporating the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in their strategies. Most of the SDGs can only be attained by organisations that are culturally intelligent, such as the fifth SDG that “aims to achieve gender equality, by ending all forms of discrimination, violence and any harmful practices against women and girls in the public and private spheres”.
It takes an organisation that subscribes to CQ to ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.
Cultures can be complex and they are influenced by other factors such as leadership style, personalities, character, and leadership roles. For example, let’s say you have a meeting with a Ghanaian artist. Does this person behave the way they do because they are Ghanaian or because they are an artist or because they are an African, a millennial, a generation-Z, or an introvert/extrovert? That is why it is important to refrain from making assumptions about people based on their tribe or culture.
A Harvard Business Review article identified three key components of CQ, which consist of Head, Body and Heart as explained below:
- Head: This is the empowerment component. CQ practitioners conduct studies and empower themselves with information that will provide them with comprehensive insight to feed into strategies that will assist management to implement cultural intelligence initiatives in their organisations.
- Body: This component deals with translating cultural information into non-verbal cues. Expressing cultural innuendos through gestures, body language, tonality, and the way individuals culturally perform important tasks. At this stage, a person’s behaviour will show to some extent that they have made a concerted effort to accept and understand the other person’s culture, without bias. They start to mirror the customs and gestures of the people and adopt their habits and mannerisms.
- Heart: This component deals with emotions and character traits like confidence, perseverance, patience, joy, and long-suffering. As stated before, culture is complex and has several dynamics to it. To think you have figured it out based on one person’s experience is wrong. A CQ practitioner needs to be able to effectively handle conflict, confront obstacles with passion and enthusiasm, but most importantly never give up.
In conclusion, what component of your culture ascribes to the three components discussed above? Have you done a cultural audit in your organisation before, and if you have, have you developed a tactical plan of action to address what emanated from the audit? Lastly, as leaders, who should be the driver of cultural intelligence? Next year I will delve into this subject further to find answers to the questions raised above. Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year.
*Morna Ikosa is a Senior Corporate Communications and Brand Reputation Strategist, CPRP, MA, AKA Fixer. To connect, send her a shout-out at micommunicationscc@gmail.com or find her on LinkedIn.
