How Eurovision increases my Cultural Intelligence

Last weekend we enjoyed watching the Eurovision Song Contest.  It was a Eurovision  (EV) Party. We sang along, we danced, we laughed with some competitors, shouted when the ones we liked didn’t get the points we felt they deserved, and ate and drank in Australian/ European party style.  Like many Australians we enjoy the crazy, cheesy, festival of song and each year learn a little more about the countries that host and compete.

It is a perfect vehicle for increasing all four factors of cultural intelligence (CQ). 

The CQ Drive component is about motivation and confidence;

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The Challenge – To provide Cross Cultural Training on a limited budget

Is it possible to deliver the quality cross-cultural training that expats need to perform effectively when the global mobility budget is tight?

We commented in last month’s newsletter that the desire to cut the cost of expatriate assignments has been a reoccurring theme in industry surveys. In fact, reducing the costs of expatriate assignments has been a continuing goal for most global mobility specialists over the past five years. 

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Good Job: Culturally Intelligent Compliments

This week's blog is written by David Livermore, author of Leading with Cultural Intelligence and other books on CQ.  I met David last year when I gained accreditation in the use of the CQ Assessment Scale. His blogs are always good value but I especially liked this one as it highlights one of those areas of communication that can be tricky across cultures.  In his words below...

The giving and receiving of “compliments” is another example where leadership mantras fall short when mindlessly applied to all cultures

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Do expat partners need high cultural intelligence?

In all the work I do I am consistently espousing the importance of high cultural intelligence for successful expat performance.  Another thing I have a tendency to rave on about is the critical role of the partner (spouse) in a successful transition; in ensuring the assignment is completed and in ensuring the expat employee is working effectively.   In research terms, partner satisfaction mediates the outcomes for all of these variables.   

So it was really interesting to me to meet a researcher who was looking at expat spouses in China and the impact of CQ levels on their satisfaction.   (Regula and I met during a Cultural Intelligence Facilitator Certification course with David Livermore in Hong Kong and enjoyed a number of nerdy discussions about CQ and what her research is showing)    So what were the results?  I’ll let her tell you below…

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Two critical skills and one critical attitude to build cultural intelligence

“How is doing your job here in Australia different to doing your similar job in the UK?”

 I was in a coaching session working with a sales and marketing professional who has relocated from the UK.  His partner was relocated by her company so he is looking for a job here.  To help him get a feel for the market he has taken on a voluntary marketing role which means he is representing a not-for-profit in a B2B marketing and sales capacity. Together we reviewed the differences he was experiencing and assessed his adaptation.

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