Cultural intelligence is one of the key soft skills needed to get along with people from diverse cultures. This soft skill is very vital to being successful in the 21st century if you live, work and do business with people from different cultures. WWith the opportunity to meet, interact and work with diverse people, comes the challenge of getting along and being successful in what we do individually and collectively. This challenge is understandable. One can have extraordinary social intelligence when it comes to interacting and working with people who are within their native culture. The individual knows very well the customs, beliefs and anathemas. Thus, getting along is relatively easy since you communicate, interact, behave and act according to cultural codes without offending and entering into misunderstandings and conflicts with others.

However, to get along and be successful in the 21st century, it takes more than excellent IQ, emotional and social intelligence. The author of The Cultural Intelligence Difference, David Livermore, wrote: “The number one predictor of your success in today’s borderless world is not your IQ, not your resume, not even your experience.” He continued, “It’s your CQ (Cultural Intelligence), a powerful ability that has been shown to improve your effectiveness when working in culturally diverse situations.”

Unfortunately, many organizations still rely only on IQ, IQ, and social intelligence when selecting supervisors and managers. The author of ‘Cultural Intelligence: CQ: The Competitive Advantage for Leaders Crossing Borders’, Julia Middleton said, “Organizations often drive leaders by their IQ. Then, years later, fire them for their lack of EQ (Emotional Intelligence).” she predicted, “Common Purpose argues that in the future they will promote for CQ – Cultural Intelligence.“

The question is how can we increase our cultural intelligence? As you know, there are thousands of cultures around the world and it is difficult to survive, much less develop the cultural competence to thrive in each culture to which we are strangers. However, we should start improving our cultural intelligence somewhere. The right place to start this rewarding journey is to understand the difference between the world’s two major cultural divides.

Some cultural experts suggest dividing world cultures into two main categories: individual-based cultures and community-based cultures. For example, countries like the US, Europe, Canada, and Australia are cultures based on the individual. In contrast, countries such as Africa, Asia, and South America are classified under community cultures. Of course, there are individual subcultures and exceptions within each national culture.

Among many parameters used to show the similarity and difference between the two main cultures, I like the three parameters suggested by Edward Hall:

1 time,

2. Context, and

3. Space.

Let me quickly compare the two broad cultures by briefly using the three indicators mentioned above. Time is treated casually in community cultures, while in individual-based cultures it is well organized. Context is high in collective cultures where people express themselves implicitly, while individuals in individual cultures communicate explicitly and use verbal communication efficiently. People from communal cultures are less territorial, while people from individual cultures have a strong tendency to mark their territories.

As a person who lived in these two major cultures, I have witnessed firsthand how people from the two cultures treat time, communicate, and manage space differently. I was born and raised in Ethiopia, a communal culture. Then I came to the US, a culture based on the individual, in 2005.

In the first stage of my stay in the United States, I experienced culture shock. To be successful in my new home, I’ve made a lot of changes, including the way I treat time, communicate, and socialize. I am still on the learning curve, stumbling here and there from time to time, which makes me humble and open to continually learning. Let me share with you some stories.

Hour

At home, being late is tolerable. It doesn’t matter who gets there first. Since relationship is valued more than time, neither of us makes being late a big deal. We smiled and hugged each other affectionately and continued our business.

Here in the US, being late for work is considered a sign of unprofessionalism and has serious consequences. Outside of work, being late hurts relationships, as being late is perceived as disrespectful.

The interesting thing is that many of my friends from Ethiopia and Africa compartmentalize their time here in the United States. They are on time when it comes to their work and formal business matters, but treat time casually at social gatherings. You may receive an invitation indicating what time the meeting starts. Unless you have a lot of free time to spend, you are not on time as stated in the letter, email, or flyer. The event may start two hours late.

I had a Nigerian classmate when I was doing my PhD (2009 – 2013). Every time we needed to get together, we used to ask ourselves, is it African or American time? If it’s African time, we don’t set the time. One of us can be in the library or cafeteria working on schoolwork, and the other person just hangs out within the time frame we agree on. If it is American time, we set the start and end time. We arrived and left on time.

Bottom

In Ethiopia, we use a lot of non-verbal communication. On the other hand, here in the US (and other individual-based cultures), people predominantly use explicit verbal communication. In communal cultures, if you talk explicitly about yourself, your achievements, qualifications, experiences, and needs, you can be labeled selfish and selfish. Conversely, if you don’t communicate verbally, explicitly, and express your needs, aspirations, and experiences in an individual-based culture, you may be seen as shy and lacking in confidence.

Space

I used to share bed, clothes and shoes with my family and friends all the time. It was common to find yourself going to one of your friends’ houses, and if it rains when you leave, you just take your friend’s umbrella on the way out without asking permission. If you ask, you will offend your host. He/she can feel that you distance yourself. It does not show intimacy and brotherhood. In the US, people are aware of their spaces. You are expected to respect other people’s boundaries. You can’t just grab and take someone’s stuff without running the risk of being seen as rude or worse, a thief.

However, understanding the difference between the two cultural divides is the beginning of a long journey. We need to continually increase our cultural intelligence. With greater cultural intelligence comes an understanding of where people come from and refraining from judging others based on how they treat time, communicate, and manage space.

To get along with people from diverse cultures, we must stop treating our native culture as the standard bearer. We should not expect everyone to behave and act like us. We should all increase our cultural intelligence to successfully live and work with people from different cultures. We should also make some efforts to help each other understand each other’s cultures.

I wish I had known these ideas when I first came to the US I wouldn’t have paid many prices. This is especially essential if you have recently moved to a new culture or started working or doing business with people from different cultures. It equips you to cross over into the new culture(s) without committing many deadly cultural transgressions. Of course, those of us who have been in a new culture for a long time may have the conscience. The question is: are we consistently working on our cultural intelligence and improving our cultural competence to be successful at what we do? I hope this article has inspired you to invest your time and energy to work on your cultural competency and has given you a couple of useful lessons.