Cultural Intelligence by Brooks Peterson

Culture plays a paramount role in our lives. “It is what shapes who we are and how we view the world” (Thorp & Sanchez, 1998,

Culture Literacy has so many different meanings in this diverse culture that we experience every day in our modern society. This is why culture literacy is so important to Liu

Cultural Knowledge is obtaining a sound educational foundation concerning the various world views of different cultures (Berman, Frandsen, Snyder, p.280, 2016).

Cultural Competence is a complicated assimilation of education, beliefs, and experiences which would strengthen communication and efficient interaction cross-culturally. However, culture is defined as one way of life. It is not defined by race, language, food, religion, and ethics. With a job that involves constant involvement or entanglement with different culture, it is important for cultural competence. To be cultural competent is the ability to know one difference but still understands, respect, and safeguard the individual right to self-confidence, self- interpretation and status. Nevertheless, working with people of different cultural diversity might be difficult especially it differs from our own core culture. Therefore to prevent bias

I would use my culture competence skills to assist in being effective with working Andre and other clients as well because this is a set of skills, values and principles that professional must acknowledge while working or interacting with different culture groups and ethnic groups. Having knowledge about the different populations that you may come into contact with will help you efficiently and respectfully interact with clients from diverse backgrounds.

I understand the term “cultural competence” is the ability to naturally navigate through (social) environments taking into consideration people’s different cultural views and promote the views of others – not to the detriment of others.

Competencies that are necessary when working in a cultural diverse environment are, value in diversity, self-awareness of cultural, understanding dynamics within cultural interaction, and the institutionalization of dynamics within cultural dynamics. When valuing diversity, the organization should be respectful and accepting of the various cultural upbringings, traditions, communication and beliefs of others, thus providing a nondiscriminatory outlook of the individual (Van Roekel, 2008) Self-awareness of culture requires an individual to have an understanding of their own culture which is shaped by their interests, knowledge, experience, values, background, skills and beliefs. This awareness helps the individual to have an understanding of who they are, how they interact with others, and where they fit in with society and family and environment (Van Roekel, 2008).

Most Americans are not aware of the many definitions the word culture has had over its course of existence in the English language. Some associate their knowledge of culture with one of Beethoven 's classic symphonies or with a beautiful painting by Picasso. These same individuals most often classify their ideal of culture in two classes- high and low culture. As the authors state, “a cultured person is someone who has achieved a certain level of refinement and

There is a relationship between intelligence and culture because intelligence is culturally shaped and defined and some cultures support and identify it as very vital in the context of social and ecological aspects. In the early years, there was a bias towards intelligence tests because they used English language and culture. The formation of Wesler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Addition (WAIS,IV) in 2008 by David Wesler was meant to minimise the bias. According to Westen, Burton and Kowalski (2006), intelligence assists human beings to take control of their lives and it varies cross culturally because the power dynamics differ in each society and this leads to differences in behaviour and line of thinking. These authors describe intelligence as multifaceted, functional and can be defined by culture because it is universal and studying intelligence using different culture as a sample that can be used to question Western ideas about intelligence with some emphasis on the assessment of skills and abilities using culturally appropriate methods (Benson, 2003)

Brislin, R., Worthley, R., & Macnab, B. (2006). Cultural intelligence: Understanding behaviors that serve people's goals. Group & Organization Management, 31(1), 40-55. doi:10.1177/1059601105275262

Culture is the what, why and how we do things. The Cultural Competence: Guidelines and Protocols document describes culture as being an interplay of multiple elements that include behaviour’s, customs, beliefs, values and

Globalization and technological advancement have dictated the need for managers to deal with multiple ethnic groups with different culture in their day to day interactions. According to Kulkarni (2012), cultures play critical roles in individuals, including values, beliefs, humor, worries, fears, hopes, opinions, attachments, and anxieties.

Cultural self-awareness is strongly linked to development of a cultural intelligence for a number of reasons. Thus, this essay will critically reflect on what cultural self-awareness is and its importance on how it develops ones cultural intelligence. Before we discuss about cultural self-awareness and cultural intelligence, it is important to understand what culture is and how it impacts on our society. Culture is a complex subject that can be defined in various ways.

Cultural intelligence assessment will enable the individual to have certain information about himself. It is posited that cultural difference has a greater impact on business effectiveness than we think. That our cultural backgrounds really influence the way we think and act and the way we interpret each others contributions. Our success or failure in communication will depend on the extent at which we understand the different cultural background of the employees and create a fruitful collaboration in situations where cultural differences play a role. To achieve this, we need to act in an appropriate way in multicultural situations coupled with the ability to have an open mind which admits new information and this is curious about

It is high time that people learn about different cultures to have a thorough understanding of the same and thus achieve cultural competency. This is necessary for educators, healthcare givers, attorneys, organizations and all to live in a cross-cultural world without any emotional or physical conflict. Most organizations have their presence in multiple countries and have business relations with people of different cultural groups. So, for a successful business also, cultural competency is the demand.