Cultural Intelligence and Capabilities: Reflection

Running Head: CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE AND CAPABILITIES
July 21
2018
Reflection

CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE AND CAPABILITIES
1
Cultural intelligence and capability can be defined as an individual’s capability to work and
relate themselves effectively across variety of cultures. Cultural intelligence is also a measure
similar to that of an individual’s intelligence. When it comes to measure cultural intelligence
it can also be defined as cultural quotient. This cultural quotient defines the capability of an
individual to relate or blend themselves successfully into a completely new environment or
culture. In this discussion this argument of cultural intelligence or capability to bled oneself
into new culture is discussed with self-awareness of cultural influences. In the end a
conclusion is also made to summarise the self-awareness and its influence to enhance the
cultural intelligence and its capabilities to make a self-enhancements as a better person for
variety of cultures around the world. According to Early and Mosakowski (2004), this term
cultural intelligence is defined as an individual’s capability to feel comfortable in a
completely new culture or to adapt a new environment effectively. Cultural intelligence can
also be defined as a system interacting skills and knowledge to be linked with cultures and
allow people to adapt the new culture effectively (Thomas, et al. 2008).
This concept of cultural intelligence appeals to large number of audience who believe that it
is only cognitive intelligence that is required to being comfortable in a multicultural
environment. This perception is not true as I have my own experience that suggests me to
believe that cognitive intelligence is not the only required tool to relate ourselves with a
variety of cultures. For me it was a usual experience to understand cultural differences and
makes me to realise that cultural intelligence is just like one’s self intelligence like an
individual’s IQ. In the literature of cultural intelligence it is defined that the term cultural
intelligence can be understood as cultural quotient. Similar to IQ, cultural quotient (CQ) can
be measured as one’s own capability to relate oneself with different cultures.

CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE AND CAPABILITIES
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I was brought up in a middle class family and used to play football with my friends. I was
quite good at this and selected as the captain of our football team when I was ten. In that
small age I was capable to speak English and Spanish as well. Speaking two different
languages at the age of ten is not an easy task. This was possible for me because I have an
English speaking father and my mother is from Chile. Therefore, I used to talk in English
with my father and when I wanted to talk with my other I used to speak Spanish. This
practice of speaking two languages shows the influence of two different cultures.
This measure of cultural intelligence in terms of CQ is a significant predictor of an
individual’s performance in setting a multicultural environment surrounding them. This
concept of cultural intelligence and capabilities can be described with the help of David
Livermore’s CQ Modell. This model can help to understand my intelligence and capabilities
to understand different cultures. With the help of this model can explain my intelligence in an
effective way to describe the term very clearly.
This model developed by David Livermore includes four capabilities that are emerged with
someone to relate or feel comfortable in a multicultural environment. These four capabilities
are, CQ Drive, CQ Knowledge, CQ Strategy, and CQ Action. Managers and leaders of
multinational companies also use this model to make their business successful in different
cultural environments (Intelligent Mindset, 2018).
CQ Drive: This capability defines the motivation, cross-culture work, and self-confidence of
an individual to adapt a new culture. I, being grown up in a family having a football
background was enough confident to play football and motivated too to cope-up with my
friend easily. Along with my football my linguistic diversity was also a self-motivated drive
for me to learn both the languages easily.