About Cultural Intelligence
CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE, or CQ, is a globally recognized way of assessing and improving effectiveness in culturally diverse situations. It’s rooted in rigorous, academic research conducted across more than 100 countries.
CQ: An Essential Skill
Cultural intelligence (CQ) is a critical part of setting yourself apart in today’s globalized world of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and innovation. It’s the ability to relate and work effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds and it goes beyond existing notions of cultural sensitivity and awareness. With cultural intelligence, you’ll know how to strategically use cultural differences to come up with more innovative solutions.
In culturally diverse situations, CQ predicts…
- Personal Adjustment and Adaptability
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Negotiation Effectiveness
- Trust, Idea Sharing, and Innovation
- Leadership Effectiveness
- Profitability and Cost-Savings
What is CQ?
Most cultural competence programs focus on teaching information about different cultures (e.g. Indians versus Germans; Millennials vs. Boomers). Cultural intelligence takes a different approach. Based on more than twenty years of research across over 100 countries, we know that there are four capabilities that need to be developed in order to relate and work effectively with people from different backgrounds.
Cultural Intelligence begins with CQ Drive—the curiosity and motivation needed to work well with others. Next is CQ Knowledge—understanding the kinds of differences that describe one group versus the next, without resorting to stereotyping specific cultures. Third is CQ Strategy—learning how to plan effectively in light of cultural differences. And finally is CQ Action—being able to adapt behavior when the situation requires it.
The team at CQ Center has taught me more than you can imagine about these dimensions of difference and how to utilize such intelligence to produce sustainable innovation tied to business growth. I personally experience the results daily and do as much as we can to advance growth and learning in this area. My advice: go CQ, know CQ, grow CQ, be CQ.
Why is CQ Important?
For most organizations, the greatest opportunities for growth involve expanding into new markets at home and abroad. Organizations with culturally intelligent students and staff are more likely to accomplish their mission in today’s multicultural, globalized world.
Benefits of CQ For Companies
- Success in culturally diverse markets
- Speed and efficiency when working across borders
- Effective short-term and long-term global assignments
- Becoming an employer of choice
- Profitability and cost savings
- Multicultural team effectiveness
- Global virtual team effectiveness
Benefits of CQ For Educational Institutions
- Students, faculty, and staff with high intercultural competence
- High quality Interactions with diverse others
- A broad range of career opportunities
- A diverse and inclusive campus or school environment
- Transformational study abroad programs
- Recruitment and retention of underrepresented students, faculty and staff
- Tangible and intangible efficiencies and cost savings
Benefits of CQ For Government
- Enhanced communication across cultures
- Security and readiness for personnel and citizens
- Equitable opportunities for underrepresented groups
- Meeting regulatory requirements
- Cost savings and efficiencies
- Multicultural team effectiveness
- Global team effectiveness
Benefits of CQ For Everyone
- Global Citizens: CQ is the missing link between thinking globally and acting locally.
- Communities of Faith: CQ enables religious groups to respectfully engage with people from other cultural and religious backgrounds.
- Employers: CQ is the strategic link between a diverse workforce and diverse customers.
- Job Seekers: 90% of executives are looking for people who have cultural intelligence. CQ provides a competitive edge for landing your dream job
Music, sports, parenting, research, politics, filmmaking, service…Virtually all fields involve encounters with culturally diverse individuals and situations. The greater your cultural intelligence, the more likely that you successfully adjust to the cultures you encounter and that your interactions will be effective.
Benefits of CQ For Companies
- Success in culturally diverse markets
- Speed and efficiency when working across borders
- Effective short-term and long-term global assignments
- Becoming an employer of choice
- Profitability and cost savings
- Multicultural team effectiveness
- Global virtual team effectiveness
Benefits of CQ For Educational Institutions
- Students, faculty, and staff with high intercultural competence
- High quality Interactions with diverse others
- A broad range of career opportunities
- A diverse and inclusive campus or school environment
- Transformational study abroad programs
- Recruitment and retention of underrepresented students, faculty and staff
- Tangible and intangible efficiencies and cost savings
Benefits of CQ For Government
- Enhanced communication across cultures
- Security and readiness for personnel and citizens
- Equitable opportunities for underrepresented groups
- Meeting regulatory requirements
- Cost savings and efficiencies
- Multicultural team effectiveness
- Global team effectiveness
Benefits of CQ For Everyone
- Global Citizens: CQ is the missing link between thinking globally and acting locally.
- Communities of Faith: CQ enables religious groups to respectfully engage with people from other cultural and religious backgrounds.
- Employers: CQ is the strategic link between a diverse workforce and diverse customers.
- Job Seekers: 90% of executives are looking for people who have cultural intelligence. CQ provides a competitive edge for landing your dream job
Music, sports, parenting, research, politics, filmmaking, service…Virtually all fields involve encounters with culturally diverse individuals and situations. The greater your cultural intelligence, the more likely that you successfully adjust to the cultures you encounter and that your interactions will be effective.
Multiple Solutions to Fit Your Needs
Global CQ
Global CQ can best be described as working and relating effectively across international cultures. This may occur during international travel, when interacting with a global, virtual team, or when talking with people from other countries.
Domestic CQ
Domestic CQ can best be described as working and relating effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds in your own country. This may include ethnic differences but it might also mean working with people from different regions of the country, different functions in the work place, or even from different generational groups.
Products & Services
We offer a variety of physical and digital products, services, and experiences to fit the needs of anyone looking to work more effectively with others.
Research
We are the gold standard – our Cultural Intelligence Scale is the only peer-reviewed, academically validated scale to measure cultural intelligence.
Training & Events
We continuously offer public training programs and events around the globe.
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Individuals
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