University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
The Cultural Intelligence Difference
Book

The Cultural Intelligence Difference

Master the One Skill You Can't Do Without in Today's Global Economy

David Livermore
AMACOM, 2011
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Editorial Rating

8

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  • Applicable

Recommendation

In the Philippines, people gamble at funerals. In Indonesia, you point with your thumb because pointing with a finger is poor etiquette. In Thailand, crossing your legs in public is rude. In Japan, you remove your shoes before entering someone’s home. Westerners used to find such practices charming or odd, but irrelevant and distant. In the modern, interconnected world, distances have shrunk and your success may depend on understanding other cultures and relating to them with thoughtfulness and sensitivity. David Livermore, an accomplished world traveler, offers helpful tips about worldwide cultures. His “cultural intelligence” self-assessment test is available online (accessible for free with a code in the book) rather than in the book itself, which would be more convenient. getAbstract recommends Livermore’s guidance to those working in unfamiliar countries and to those who need to relate to colleagues, clients and friends in diverse cultures and international business settings.

Summary

What’s Your “Cultural Intelligence”?

Your intelligence quotient (IQ), emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) and social intelligence quotient (SQ) are vital to your success. But even more important in today’s interconnected world is your cultural intelligence quotient (CQ), that is, your “capability to function effectively in a variety of cultural contexts – including national, ethnic, organizational and generational.” CQ includes adapting to ethnic foods, new languages, unfamiliar dress, local gender relations and international currencies. Regardless of specific differences among cultures, CQ involves understanding and being sensitive to people from other cultures, and how they think, feel and act.

People with high CQs operate effectively in the global marketplace and prove that CQ is a valuable and widely applicable problem-solving asset. CQ does not focus on a single culture; instead, it bespeaks your capacity to make sense of a wide number of cultures.

CQ Benefits

Your CQ develops as you learn to interpret the actions of people from diverse cultures. In a multicultural work environment, a high CQ improves and sensitizes your leadership, decision-making...

About the Author

David Livermore, president and a partner at the Cultural Intelligence Center, wrote Leading with Cultural Intelligence.

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