Enhancing Cultural Intelligence: A Reflective Analysis of Capabilities

This essay explores the concept of cultural intelligence and capabilities, defining it as an individual's ability to effectively work and relate across various cultures. The author reflects on their own experiences growing up in a multicultural environment, highlighting the influence of speaking multiple ...Read More

Running Head: CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE AND CAPABILITIES
Cultural intelligence and capabilities
July 21
2018
Reflection

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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.

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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.

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CQ Knowledge: This capability defines the knowledge of an individual to understand about
new culture or environment that he is going to adapt. I was brought up by parents from
different cultures that have provided me enough knowledge about their respective cultures
and languages as well. At that time I had enough knowledge of both the languages I speak so
it was easier for me to speak both the language at a time in comparison to other children of
my age. This knowledge was the result of my surroundings as I was living with persons from
different cultures.
CQ Strategy: Strategy of cultural quotient defines the planning to make one feel comfortable
to adapt multicultural environment. I used to speak both the languages at a time. To learn
both the languages at the same time I had used this strategy to talk with my parent in their
respective cultural language. For this I used to talk with my father in English and at the same
time when I wanted to talk with my mother I speak Spanish. This strategy of speaking
different languages with the person having knowledge of respective language made it easier
for me to understand both the language at a time.
CQ Action: This is the capability to make adjustment if there are any difficulties while
adapting new culture. In the beginning when I used to talk with my parents in their respective
languages a found it difficult to speak two languages at a time. But then I found myself
enough capable to understand their languages a little bit making some extra efforts or making
the repeat their words again and again. This consistent practice and my efforts to understand
their language made it possible to make me speak both the languages fluently.
All these capabilities are natural for some cases like in mine but sometime people practice to
learn such abilities. In the globalizing world such capabilities are essential to operate
overseas. Multinational companies look for such capabilities in their leaders or managers in
order to manger their multinational business as multinational business requires multicultural

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awareness in managers to effectively operate company’s business in different cultures. This
makes successful leaders differ within a variety of cultures. Dickson, Den Hartog and
Mitchelson (2003) stated that variety of cultural environment requires different leadership
behaviour. In this context considering the globalization cultural intelligence and leadership
are the two sides of a coin. This makes it much more important to be more capable to adapt
variety of cultures.
This discussion made me to realise that cultural intelligence is not only a personal
development essential but also a leading business essential for leaders or managers. Self-
awareness on my own cultural intelligence and capabilities were natural but it is not
necessary that such intelligence or capabilities must be natural. Sometimes like other leaders
people have to make themselves capable of doing the same as I did to adapt both the cultures
my parents are belonging from. This discussion will surely make is easy to understand the
cultural intelligence and an individual’s capabilities to adapt the same for people out there
facing difficulties in adapting different culture. Therefore, cultural intelligence and
capabilities is essential tool to be successful in learning thing from diversity of cultures across
the world.

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References
Dickson M. W., Den Hartog Deanne N. and Mitchelson Jacqueline. K. (2003). “Research on
Leadership in a Cross-Cultural Context: Making Progress and Raising New
Questions.” Leadership Quarterly, 14(6). pp. 729-768.
Earley P. Christopher and Mosakowski Elaine. Cultural intelligence. Harvard Business
Review 2004: 139–146.
Ersoy, A. (2014). The role of cultural intelligence in cross-cultural leadership effectiveness:
A qualitative study in the hospitality industry. Journal of Yesar University, 9(35). pp.
6099-6108.
Intelligent Mindset, (2018). The CQ Model. [Onlinne]. Available from:
http://www.intelligentmindsets.com/tools/cq-model-16213100 [Accessed on 21 July
2018].
Thomas David C., Elron Efrat, Stahl Gunter, Ekelund Bjorn Z., Ravlin Elizabeth C., Cerdin
Jean-Luc., Poelmans Steven, Brislin Richard, Pekerti Andre, Aycan Zeynep,
Maznevski,Martha, Au Kevin and Lazarova Mila B. (2008). “Cultural intelligence:
Domain and Assessment.” International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 8.
pp. 123–143.