9: Cultural Intelligence in a VUCA World

You’re good at what you do? Right? Of course! You are reading this book because you understand that leading in a VUCA world is critical to your success. You have gotten to where you are today because of how you have performed yesterday and the many days, weeks, months, and years before that.

We all like think that we are consistently successful when interacting with our business counterparts, especially when communicating across cultures. However, no matter how well-informed and cosmopolitan we are, how can we really know that we have succeeded? This chapter answers that question by examining the concept of cultural intelligence (CQ) and how we can enhance our intercultural skills and behaviors. It begins with the premise that each of us is good at what we do, but stresses that we all can be more mindful of our interactions with difference — especially across cultures.