The Internet and technological innovation in a faster travel form truly made the world a world village. With this, it becomes possible to communicate across the boundary just by clicking the button. Video conferencing, short message service, e-mail created an environment where information transmission is almost reaching the speed of your thinking.
Given this scenario, we are currently in the unknown world of human effort and existence. From the comfort of your office and home, you can now talk to someone who is far from the world. More companies and organizations are recruiting foreign talents, joining the talent, and contributing to the achievement of the goal. When working in such a culturally diverse environment it is sometimes easy to forget that people communicating have a different perspective and perception from you. Therefore, it is important to develop the sense of cultural intelligence to learn how to actively engage with people of different cultures.
When Howard Gardner wrote a book called "Multi Intelligence" defined in the 1970s, he identified seven basic intelligence possibilities of all human beings. However, Gardner did not discount the fact that there may be other intellects that have not been discovered yet. In this context, cultural intelligence seems appropriate in addition to today's list of this human intelligence.
Like many other forms of intelligence it is possible to develop and strengthen our cultural intelligence. Doing so makes us more sensitive and emotional to cross-cultural people who may have to work. In addition, Helen Keller says: "The best outcome of education is tolerance, by developing your cultural intelligence you also increase your tolerance level exponentially.
You can increase your cultural intelligence level by developing the following characteristics.
1. Overcoming stereotypes
It is a natural human process to stereotype people into various categories. Although stereotyping may sometimes be able to give a person's profile, stereotyping is not justified, it is dangerous as it leads to making harmful assumptions. People in different cultures share their own beliefs and customs that may conflict with their own. It is best to empathize with your own merit rather than from a cultural point of view.
2. Recognition and acceptance
The next important thing in developing cultural intelligence is to create a sense of consciousness and acceptance. Recognition allows us to keep in mind the customs and customs of people of other cultures. Accepting the way to do things will show a feeling of compassion about who they are and how they perceive them. As to how he perceives you, your attitude towards people from different cultures will also be reflected in you. Please be aware that the ability to accept other people's culture will always improve the level of consideration which is a distinct quality of becoming a culturally intelligent person.
3. Learn
We will talk about learning to be part of our existence. In most cases, we are learning new skills related to work. We will also learn soft skills such as motivation, stress management, emotional intelligence. In addition to this list, you also have to learn about the cultures of other people. There is no excuse that information is on your fingertips and you can not do this just by clicking the mouse. The Internet is a wonderful knowledge database. Use it to learn about the cultural behavior of the different kinds of people you work. By doing this you can choose essentially useful and interesting points.
4. Find common ground
Very diverse, there are several different cultures from you, but as human beings share the basic features, we all belong to a big family. So when you hide the culture of others, you may find cultural practices that may be similar to your culture. Finding such common grounds not only breaks down the barriers of communication but also helps to better understand others. You can learn to find common grounds by allowing people from other cultures to talk to you and better understand. Make a psychological barrier for effective integration, create a stereotype image in your mind, so please do not judge others' habits when evaluating.
5. Food
Food is a wonderful way to understand culture, as it is a common feature shared by all humans. Different cultures have special delicacies specific to culture. Since you live in a cultural pot, please try the foreign delicacy. Depending on the way food is prepared, you may tell a story that might stimulate your taste and make new friends, as well as a story that might give great insight into others' culture.
Ultimately, developing cultural intelligence is all about attitudes. Taking a cross-cultural orientation will only emphasize the narrow mind and the ability to actively engage with people from different cultures. The more you learn to integrate and maintain your own sense of your own culture, the more effective you become. Please remember that we forgot the anthropologist Margaret Meade. "In order to realize a valuable rich culture, we will recognize the full range of human possibilities and find a suitable place for each diver's human gift"
Daniel Theyagu
