Cultural Intelligence and Capability: A Critical Reflection

This paper discusses the importance of cultural awareness and its impact on cultural intelligence. It highlights the interlink between cultural self-awareness and cultural intelligence and recommends sensitivity towards all cultures for a better society. The paper also discusses the steps to develop cultural intelligence.

Running Head: CRITICAL REFLECTION
Critical Reflection
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CRITICAL REFLECTION
Topic- Cultural Intelligence and Capability
Introduction
In everyone’s lives, culture is a significantly important aspect because it leaves greater
influence on people. There are some factors where most impact of people’s culture is apparent
such as in their desires, values, worries and views. Apart from these, a sense of identity and
belongingness is given to people by cultures. When different cultured people interact with other
cultured people, the self-awareness becomes most important then (Ang et al., 2007). Cultural
intelligence on the other hand is the ability of the individual to adjust in a multi-cultured
environment (Al-Jarrah, 2016). In most of the organizations this trait is necessary in the leader as
well as in the employees because there are different cultured people who work together in the
workplace. This paper highlights what is cultural self –awareness, what is cultural intelligence,
how they are interlinked and why one influences the other. The paper concludes by
recommending sensitivity towards all cultures which will form a better society for tomorrow.
Discussion
Cultural Awareness is the basis of communication and interactions involving the ability
to understand own cultural values, practices, beliefs and perceptions as suggested by Aschieri
(2016). This kind of awareness becomes central when one person interacts with another person
from different cultural backgrounds. The perception, assessment and evaluation of a particular
scenario differs from person to person mostly influenced by their cultural diversities. One
behavior might be considered appropriate to one culture while another culture might deny its
accuracy (Pappamihiel &Pappamihiel, 2013). For instance, if an Italian automatically perceives
US American as always working, talking about work on dining table, and drinking coffee while
crossing the road for office, it does not mean that Italians are the lazy folks and the Americans
are the most active. Instead, it means that the value the Italians give to certain activities such as
eating lunch or dinner and drinking coffee is due to the high value that they give to personal
relationships. Such relaxing pauses are social excuses for knowing each other more and
strengthening the bonds more. In America, on the other hand, time is money. They prefer to give
lesser importance to such pauses and concentrate more on the work cultures. They prefer to
complete such essential activities by not wasting an extra hour on them, rather they do it while
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walking down the street, signing a business deal or showing a presentation to the board of
directors.
A person’s own ability to adjust and function efficiently in a diverse cultural situation is
called the cultural intelligence of that person. In the extremely globalized and diversified work
environment, adjusting efficiently is important for the managers, employees and the organization
as a whole (Earley & Mosakowski,2004). The knowledge of own cultural intelligence assists to
measure the effectiveness of merging easily in cross-cultural interactions properly, the coping
ability to multi-cultural situations, and performing capacity in diverse work groups. The
knowledge of the cultural intelligence of other people provides deep understanding of how to
behave and interact with that person keeping his cultural values intact in a multi-cultural
situation (Magnusson, Westjohn, Semenov, Randrianasolo & Zdravkovic, 2013). There are three
steps to grow and develop ones’ cultural intelligence starting with observing a particular culture,
inspiration and the will to change behavior and action plan according to that.
How Cultural Self-Awareness helps People to become more Culturally Intelligent
A person’s values and beliefs are built by cultural self -awareness. Followers of a
particular set of values or believes divides the perception of people. For instance, religion is the
greatest contributor of cultural division around the world. If we take up Christianity, it has its
own range of values, practices and beliefs which it conveys to its followers. Christianity has its
own ways of praying and serving the humanity. This religion teaches the humanity to embrace
and accept other religions with equal respect. Being a Christian myself, I understand that there
are other religions too which do not share the same values and beliefs like Christianity. I also
understand and accept the fact that they are from other religious backgrounds and thus their ways
of operation and perception are somewhere different from mine. I believe that in order to
encourage a peaceful and mutual co-existence I will try my best to cope up with the diverse
situation and involve in a friendly bond that will be helpful in continuing the work process
smoothly in the workplace. I personally believe that above every segregation and classification
on the basis of religion, region, race, color and gender, all are human beings and everybody
should be respected for their individual culture and opinions irrespective of where they come
from, what they eat and what they wear. This consideration has developed my cultural
intelligence and made me comfortable in interacting with diverse cultured people in society.
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Apart from this, cultural self-awareness advances originality and normality. Erez et al.,
(2013) suggests that a person having different attributes, characteristics and behaviors is
identified easily from the common mass. This recognition makes the person feel special and
acknowledged. When that unique person is accepted normally by others, it develops his/ her
cultural intelligence and he starts behaving normal and seeing everything normal. This person if
handled in such a casual and normal manner that he/she does not even recognizes the cultural
differences between them, cultural intelligence gets already promoted in that environment.
Why Cultural Self-Awareness Helps people to be more Culturally Intelligent
It is a general tendency of human society to view their own culture as superior to other
cultures. People give so much importance and feel proud at their cultural differences rather than
celebrating their similarities which could help them to make the bond of fraternity stronger than
before. People always uphold their own values in society and study other cultures just to criticize
and comment on them, as argued by Ramsey, Abi Aad, Jiang, Barakat & Drummond, (2016). It
is important to know other cultures, but not to criticize but to respect and adopt to make a better
society for tomorrow (Herrmann, Call, Hernández-Lloreda, Hare & Tomasello, 2007). Since man
is a social animal the episodes of interaction between different people will keep continuing and
in the due course, cultural mixture will also keep growing. This social interaction of one person
with other persons is the main reason why cultural self-awareness influences cultural intelligence
in the day to day lives.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that cultural awareness is
important in every aspect of life. It is important because it develops the organizational
relationship by promoting cultural intelligence and enhances the daily operations of the
organization. In normal society too, being aware of own culture as well as of others can reduce
cultural combats. Overall it is the respect and acceptance of one culture for another culture which
forms the base of a better society or country as a whole.
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Reference
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