Being culturally intelligent doesn’t mean you can speak multiple languages or that you have spent a lot of time visiting other countries and cultures.
But it does mean you have an open mind and appreciate that different cultures have distinctive norms, values, and practices. The goal of a culturally intelligent leader is to navigate cross-cultural situations with sensitivity through respectful behavior.
Interacting with the people and customs from different cultures requires a deep understanding of what counts as respect and trust in that particular culture. This entails spending the time to educate yourself in the values, customs, and communication styles relevant in the common situations found in that culture.
In addition to asking colleagues who have grown up in various cultures to point out essential differences, good leaders seek out online resources, books, and workshops that can assist in this effort. Culturally intelligent leaders question their assumptions and operate from curiosity, showing a deep respect for the customs and traditions important in that culture.
Of the many behaviors that communicate respect, everyday gestures play a pivotal role. In nearly every culture, specific gestures carry a tremendous meaning to others. Gestures that involve physical touching and handshakes, eye contact, distance in personal space, and head movements matter most.
Understanding how a particular culture interprets the gestures in those four categories allows leaders to become a quick study and to navigate respectful behavior successfully on short notice. For instance, engaging in the appropriate head nodding is important in most cultures, as nodding and head shaking convey respectful agreement or disagreement depending on the culture in question.
There is an enormous amount of information to consume when studying the customs and preferred communication styles of different cultures. It can take years to fully appreciate and understand the nuances involved in shaping meaning in a given culture. Gestures give leaders a shortcut to behave respectfully on relatively short notice. Get the gestures in those four categories right, and leaders can learn to show up in a trustful way.
So, the next time you are headed to a different culture, spend the time on gestures first. Respect starts with small acts. The smallest gestures often carry the most weight and display your cultural intelligence with aplomb.
