<ul>
<li>After IQ and EQ, Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is a new type of intelligence on the rise due to globalization and a complex, competitive and dynamic business environment.</li>
<li>Employees having a high level of CQ are able to act as a bridge that connects to a diverse group of peers, transferring knowledge and helping build interpersonal connections.</li>
<li>Their multi-faceted, multicultural approach gives a global, vibrant flavour to the product or service that they are working on while driving up innovation and creativity within the team.</li>
</ul>

Cultural Intelligence (CQ)

Communication

Teamwork

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is a system comprising of three well-connected components:
<ol>
<li>Cultural Knowledge: The content and process knowledge of the various cultures.</li>
<li>Cross-cultural Skills: A wide range of skills that pertain to the various facets of a culture, like relational, tolerance of uncertainty and ambiguity, adaptability, empathy, and the ability to understand other people's feelings.</li>
<li>Cultural Metacognition: Also called cultural mindfulness, is the art of being aware of the cultural context, the subtleties of various situations, and the kind of strategies that can be taken.</li>
</ol>

The Three Components Of Cultural Intelligence

One can develop cultural knowledge through newspapers, movies, travelling to various countries, and interacting officially or personally with people of different cultures, learning new traditions, customs, cuisines, and rich new ways to live life. 
One can identify and analyse the different cultures and utilize the knowledge in future.

How To Develop Cultural Knowledge

Experiential learning, On-the-job training or studying abroad make us develop various cross-cultural skills in a course of time. The process takes less time when there is already ample cultural knowledge. 
Example: Showing up ten minutes late in a meeting is not considered rude in Spain.

How To Develop Cross-Cultural Skills

This advanced cognitive understanding of other cultures takes place when one observes and analyzes the behaviour of the person from a different culture you want to learn about.
One needs to pay a good amount of attention to check, reflect and optimize the other person’s behaviour to be able to develop this cognitive ability.

How To Develop Cultural Metacognition

<img src="https://blogs-images.forbes.com/iese/files/2019/01/IESE-Business-School_avatar_1547030094.png" alt="IESE Business School" width="64" height="64"><div>We share global insights and research.</div>IQ, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2014/01/09/emotional-intelligence/" data-ga-track="InternalLink:http://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2014/01/09/emotional-intelligence/" aria-label="EQ" dir="ltr">EQ</a> now CQ? As globalization has rendered the <a href="http://www.forbes.com/business/" data-ga-track="InternalLink:http://www.forbes.com/business/" aria-label="business" dir="ltr">business</a> environment more complex, dynamic, and competitive, the ability to function effectively in different cultural contexts, called Cultural Intelligence (CQ), has never been more important for organizations.Employees who possess a high level of cultural intelligence play an important role in bridging divides and knowledge gaps in an organization: educating their peers about different cultures; transferring knowledge between otherwise disparate groups; helping to build interpersonal connections and smooth the interpersonal processes in a multicultural workforce. Culturally intelligent employees also posses the potential to drive up innovation and creativity, due to their ability to integrate diverse resources and help the business make best use of the multiple perspectives that a multicultural workforce brings to the workplace.Such abilities go beyond simply being intelligent, emotionally mature, and/or having good general social skills. CQ is a system consisting of three interactive components - cultural knowledge, cross-cultural skills and cultural metacognition. While these three components of CQ can be developed in different ways (see below), it´s important to note that they do not operate in isolation from each other.Cultural Knowledge is composed of content (what) and process (how) knowledge of other cultures, such as how and when people express disagreements with each other, and how to give feedback to subordinates.How To Develop It: You can gain cultural knowledge through multiple channels, such as newspapers, movies, books, traveling to another country, or working with or being friends with people from a different culture. This learning experience will be optimized if you are mindful during the process, such as through carefully identifying what is unique about one culture, analyzing why it is unique, and forecasting when and how you could utilize this knowledge in the future.Cross-Cultural Skills consist of a broad set of skills instrumental for intercultural effectiveness, specifically:<OL><LI>relational skills; whether you enjoy talking and interacting with people from other cultures</LI>PROMOTED<div dir="ltr">Rocket Mortgage&nbsp;BrandVoice&nbsp;| Paid Program</div><h3> How Sustainability-Minded Companies Could Lead The Way In Covid-19 Recovery </h3><div dir="ltr">KPMG&nbsp;BrandVoice&nbsp;| Paid Program</div><h3> The Critical Role Of Health Plans During And After COVID-19 </h3><div dir="ltr">Crowe&nbsp;BrandVoice&nbsp;| Paid Program</div><h3> Crowe Was Remote Long Before Covid-19. Here’s How They Made It Work </h3><LI>tolerance of uncertainty; whether you are able to tolerate uncertainties, ambiguities and unexpected changes in an intercultural interaction</LI><LI>adaptability; whether you can change your behavior according to the cultural demands</LI><LI>empathy; whether you can put yourself in a culturally different person´s shoes and imagine the situation from his or her perspective</LI><LI>perceptual acuity; whether you understand other people´s feelings and subtle meanings during intercultural interactions</LI></OL>How To Develop it: Cross-cultural skills are best developed through experiential learning, e.g. through studying or working in a foreign culture where you can practice these skills through trail-and-error.The development of these skills is accelerated when one is equipped with the appropriate cultural knowledge that was developed earlier. For example, if you know that in cultures such as Spain meeting someone 10 minutes after your arranged time is not considered late, you will feel more at ease when a Spanish colleague does not turn up exactly on time for a meeting. Similarly, being adaptive in a new cultural context requires the knowledge of how to behave appropriately in that culture. Again, this learning experience will be optimized if you are mindful during intercultural interactions and analyze your own behavior as well as your counterpart´s reactions.Cultural Metacognition (sometimes called Cultural Mindfulness) is the knowledge of and control over one´s thinking and learning activities in the specific domain of cultural experiences and strategies. Being culturally mindful means one is aware of the cultural context, consciously analyzes the interactive situation, and plans courses of actions for different cultural contexts.How To Develop It: In order to improve cultural metacognition, you need to practice mental exercises where you are observing others´ behaviors, analyzing situations and reflecting on your own behavior.<UL><LI>Pay attention to how the other party acts and reacts to you in a number of situations – this serves as the foundation for evaluating whether your behavior has achieved your desired goal. Based on this analysis, you can then decide what action you wish to take next.</LI><LI>Reflect on successful as well as unsuccessful intercultural interactions and write down what knowledge and skills you have used during those interactions. Are there any clues you missed or misread? Was there any word or behavior you did not know how to interpret? What would you do differently in a similar context?</LI><LI>Again, this learning experience will be optimized if you already have some cultural knowledge and cross-cultural skills. For example, if you can relate to your counterpart and are able to put yourself in his or her shoes, it will be easier for you to interpret his or her behavior and plan for your next move.</LI></UL>Developing your CQ in these ways will go a long way to ensure that you and your organization are able to nimbly navigate across cultural boundaries. By <a href="http://www.iese.edu/en/faculty-research/professors/faculty-directory/yuan--echo-liao/" rel="nofollow noopener" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:http://www.iese.edu/en/faculty-research/professors/faculty-directory/yuan--echo-liao/" aria-label="Echo Yuan Liao" dir="ltr">Echo Yuan Liao</a>, Assistant Professor of <a href="http://www.forbes.com/managing/" data-ga-track="InternalLink:http://www.forbes.com/managing/" aria-label="Managing" dir="ltr">Managing</a> People in Organizations at <a href="http://www.iese.edu/" rel="nofollow noopener" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:http://www.iese.edu/" aria-label="IESE Business School." dir="ltr">IESE Business School.</a> Prof. Liao's research interests lie in cross-cultural management, regulatory focus, cultural intelligence, and multiculturalism.&nbsp;<img src="https://blogs-images.forbes.com/iese/files/2019/01/IESE-Business-School_avatar_1547030094.png" alt="IESE Business School" width="44" height="44">

IQ, EQ now CQ? As globalization has rendered the business environment more complex, dynamic, and competitive, the ability to function effectively in different cultural contexts, called Cultural Intelligence (CQ), has never been more important for organizations. Employees who possess a high level of cultural intelligence play an important role in bridging [...]

IQ, <a aria-label="EQ" data-ga-track="InternalLink:http://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2014/01/09/emotional-intelligence/" dir="ltr" href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2014/01/09/emotional-intelligence/">EQ </a>now CQ? As globalization has rendered the <a aria-label="business" data-ga-track="InternalLink:http://www.forbes.com/business/" dir="ltr" href="http://www.forbes.com/business/">business </a>environment more complex, dynamic, and competitive, the ability to function effectively in different cultural contexts, called Cultural Intelligence (CQ), has never been more important for organizations.

Employees who possess a high level of cultural intelligence play an important role in bridging divides and knowledge gaps in an organization: educating their peers about different cultures; transferring knowledge between otherwise disparate groups; helping to build interpersonal connections and smooth the interpersonal processes in a multicultural workforce. Culturally intelligent employees also posses the potential to drive up innovation and creativity, due to their ability to integrate diverse resources and help the business make best use of the multiple perspectives that a multicultural workforce brings to the workplace.

Such abilities go beyond simply being intelligent, emotionally mature, and/or having good general social skills. CQ is a system consisting of three interactive components - cultural knowledge, cross-cultural skills and cultural metacognition. While these three components of CQ can be developed in different ways (see below), it´s important to note that they do not operate in isolation from each other.

Cultural Knowledge is composed of content (what) and process (how) knowledge of other cultures, such as how and when people express disagreements with each other, and how to give feedback to subordinates.

How To Develop It: You can gain cultural knowledge through multiple channels, such as newspapers, movies, books, traveling to another country, or working with or being friends with people from a different culture. This learning experience will be optimized if you are mindful during the process, such as through carefully identifying what is unique about one culture, analyzing why it is unique, and forecasting when and how you could utilize this knowledge in the future.

Cross-Cultural Skills consist of a broad set of skills instrumental for intercultural effectiveness, specifically:

<ol><li>relational skills; whether you enjoy talking and interacting with people from other cultures </li>PROMOTED <div dir="ltr">Rocket Mortgage BrandVoice  | Paid Program </div><h3>How Sustainability-Minded Companies Could Lead The Way In Covid-19 Recovery </h3><div dir="ltr">KPMG BrandVoice  | Paid Program </div><h3>The Critical Role Of Health Plans During And After COVID-19 </h3><div dir="ltr">Crowe BrandVoice  | Paid Program </div><h3>Crowe Was Remote Long Before Covid-19. Here’s How They Made It Work </h3><li>tolerance of uncertainty; whether you are able to tolerate uncertainties, ambiguities and unexpected changes in an intercultural interaction </li><li>adaptability; whether you can change your behavior according to the cultural demands </li><li>empathy; whether you can put yourself in a culturally different person´s shoes and imagine the situation from his or her perspective </li><li>perceptual acuity; whether you understand other people´s feelings and subtle meanings during intercultural interactions </li> </ol>

How To Develop it: Cross-cultural skills are best developed through experiential learning, e.g. through studying or working in a foreign culture where you can practice these skills through trail-and-error.

The development of these skills is accelerated when one is equipped with the appropriate cultural knowledge that was developed earlier. For example, if you know that in cultures such as Spain meeting someone 10 minutes after your arranged time is not considered late, you will feel more at ease when a Spanish colleague does not turn up exactly on time for a meeting. Similarly, being adaptive in a new cultural context requires the knowledge of how to behave appropriately in that culture. Again, this learning experience will be optimized if you are mindful during intercultural interactions and analyze your own behavior as well as your counterpart´s reactions.

Cultural Metacognition (sometimes called Cultural Mindfulness) is the knowledge of and control over one´s thinking and learning activities in the specific domain of cultural experiences and strategies. Being culturally mindful means one is aware of the cultural context, consciously analyzes the interactive situation, and plans courses of actions for different cultural contexts.

How To Develop It: In order to improve cultural metacognition, you need to practice mental exercises where you are observing others´ behaviors, analyzing situations and reflecting on your own behavior.

<ul><li>Pay attention to how the other party acts and reacts to you in a number of situations – this serves as the foundation for evaluating whether your behavior has achieved your desired goal. Based on this analysis, you can then decide what action you wish to take next. </li><li>Reflect on successful as well as unsuccessful intercultural interactions and write down what knowledge and skills you have used during those interactions. Are there any clues you missed or misread? Was there any word or behavior you did not know how to interpret? What would you do differently in a similar context? </li><li>Again, this learning experience will be optimized if you already have some cultural knowledge and cross-cultural skills. For example, if you can relate to your counterpart and are able to put yourself in his or her shoes, it will be easier for you to interpret his or her behavior and plan for your next move. </li> </ul>

Developing your CQ in these ways will go a long way to ensure that you and your organization are able to nimbly navigate across cultural boundaries.

By <a aria-label="Echo Yuan Liao" data-ga-track="ExternalLink:http://www.iese.edu/en/faculty-research/professors/faculty-directory/yuan--echo-liao/" dir="ltr" href="http://www.iese.edu/en/faculty-research/professors/faculty-directory/yuan--echo-liao/" rel="nofollow noopener">Echo Yuan Liao </a>, Assistant Professor of <a aria-label="Managing" data-ga-track="InternalLink:http://www.forbes.com/managing/" dir="ltr" href="http://www.forbes.com/managing/">Managing </a>People in Organizations at <a aria-label="IESE Business School." data-ga-track="ExternalLink:http://www.iese.edu/" dir="ltr" href="http://www.iese.edu/" rel="nofollow noopener">IESE Business School. </a>Prof. Liao's research interests lie in cross-cultural management, regulatory focus, cultural intelligence, and multiculturalism.

Bite‑sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Why You Need Cultural Intelligence (And How To Develop It)

Cultural Intelligence (CQ)

The Three Components Of Cultural Intelligence

How To Develop Cultural Knowledge

How To Develop Cross-Cultural Skills

How To Develop Cultural Metacognition

Three Questions to Gauge Emotional Intelligence

What Makes You "Multicultural"

5 Ways To Develop Your Emotional Intelligence

Bite‑sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

Why You Need Cultural Intelligence (And How To Develop It)

Cultural Intelligence (CQ)

The Three Components Of Cultural Intelligence

How To Develop Cultural Knowledge

How To Develop Cross-Cultural Skills

How To Develop Cultural Metacognition

Three Questions to Gauge Emotional Intelligence

What Makes You "Multicultural"

5 Ways To Develop Your Emotional Intelligence

Bite‑sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career