On Friday 29th November, Taylor Clarke welcomed Lucy Butters to the office to deliver a ‘CQ taster Session’.
“What is CQ?” you ask.
CQ is still a somewhat unknown term for “Cultural Intelligence” and Lucy Butters is on a “one woman mission” is assessing and developing Cultural Intelligence (CQ). She works with organisations to develop, support and enhance internationalisation strategies.
Cultural Intelligence is:
“The capability to function effectively across various cultural contexts (national, ethnic, organizational, generational, etc.)” --Soon Ang and Linn Van Dyne“Conceptualization of Cultural Intelligence” in Handbook of Cultural Intelligence: Theory, Measurement, and Applications (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2008)
This interests us because Cultural Intelligence (CQ) supports:
· Leadership Development
· International Ambition
· Diversity and Inclusion
· Cultural Change
As Cultural Intelligence (CQ) predicts ones effectiveness working across many different cultural contexts we knew this now matters and we should care and understand.
Lucy’s taster session was an interactive mix of theory and humour. Taylor Clarke staff and associates worked in pairs to discuss questions such as “What words would you use to define Culture?” and “What is your motivation for wanting to be effective in diverse cultural setting?”
Cultural Intelligence is about being successful when working with cultural diversity. So, what makes leaders successful in leading cultural diversity?
Research has shown that Leaders across cultures have 4 capabilities that are constantly high:
· CQ Drive
· CQ Knowledge
· CQ Action
· CQ Strategy
These 4 capabilities can be developed which can then lead to outcomes such as: improved decision making, performance and change in culturally diverse groups.
Between learning sections of each of the capabilities, Lucy allowed us to reflect and consider our own understandings by thinking about our own culture, how culture affects leadership styles, learning styles, and what would be most useful to us.
The session finished with us discussing the importance of understanding, which is more than just the knowledge part, but also being open to other cultures and ensuring we ask and listen.
Overall, the 2 hours with Lucy were fascinating and even with our combined years of experience, there is always a new way of thinking and to improve ourselves and our practice with learning.
Once again, we would like to thank Lucy for taking the time to come to us and teach us CQ.
To find out more about Cultural Intelligence (CQ), please visit www.elembee.co.uk
If you would like to talk with us about Culture Change, please contact mail@taylorclarke.co.uk