Cultural Intelligence for Executive Leaders

Gifford Rhamie

Co-founder: Race Excellence

In this video, Gifford explores Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and its crucial role in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB). He breaks down the four components of CQ: Drive, Knowledge, Strategy, and Action, and shows how they help leaders navigate diverse environments. He also covers a framework for implementing sustainable change and integrating CQ into organisational practices.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

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Cultural Intelligence for Executive Leaders

17 mins 18 secs

Key learning objectives:

Understand the concept of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and its connection to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB)
Outline the four key components of Cultural Intelligence: Drive, Knowledge, Strategy, and Action
Identify how leaders can attain Cultural Intelligence and the consequences of lacking it in multicultural environments
Understand the importance of psychological safety in relation to Cultural Intelligence and DEIB

Overview:

Cultural intelligence (CQ) is essential for bringing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) to life in the workplace. It helps teams recognise and value different ways of thinking, behaving and communicating, and ensures that DEIB is more than just surface-level. CQ has four key parts: drive, knowledge, strategy and action. It’s especially important for leaders, who need to adapt to cultural differences to build trust and lead effectively. Psychological safety also plays a key role, allowing people to speak up and share ideas without fear. Real change happens when organisations assess where they are, build a strategy, implement inclusive practices and keep learning. With CQ as the foundation, teams work better together, people feel they belong, and DEIB efforts are far more impactful.

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Summary

What is Cultural Intelligence and how does it connect to DEIB?

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is the ability to recognise and understand differences in people’s values, behaviours and ways of thinking across cultures, and to use that understanding to interact respectfully and effectively. It helps bring out the values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) that we all have, but which often get buried in professional settings.

Without CQ, DEIB efforts can fall flat. It’s CQ that allows DEIB to move from theory into meaningful action. It improves employee engagement, reduces turnover, and ensures a wider range of perspectives in decision-making. Think of CQ as the oil that keeps the DEIB engine running smoothly, preventing friction and enabling a diverse team to collaborate harmoniously and competitively.

What are the four key components of Cultural Intelligence?

Cultural Intelligence is made up of four core components

CQ Drive
CQ Knowledge
CQ Strategy
CQ Action

How can leaders attain Cultural Intelligence?

Leaders without CQ often struggle in multicultural environments. They face communication breakdowns, make poor decisions based on their own cultural assumptions, and lose the trust of their teams. For example, a British manager using a direct leadership style in Japan failed to engage the team, which led to a dip in productivity and morale.

To build CQ, leaders can:

Acquire knowledge: Learn about the cultural norms of the people they lead
Gain experience: Spend time in different cultural settings to build trust and understanding
Reflect: Examine their own cultural biases and adjust their approach
Seek coaching: Work with a CQ coach to develop cultural awareness and strategies for improvement

Why is psychological safety important in the context of CQ and DEIB?

Psychological safety is the belief that you won’t be punished or humiliated for speaking up. It’s especially important in diverse teams where cultural backgrounds may affect how comfortable people feel about contributing.

Psychological safety allows people to:

Take risks
Admit mistakes
Share new ideas

Managers can build psychological safety by:

Encouraging open communication
Modelling vulnerability
Respecting differences
Addressing microaggressions

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Gifford Rhamie

Dr. Gifford Rhamie, is an award-winning university lecturer and seasoned entrepreneur. He supervises PhD students in leadership, cultural competency, migration studies, and racial inequalities. His PhD is in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. He provides transformation tools for businesses across Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, including training, facilitation, leadership consulting, and public speaking. He is also a qualified executive coach, mentor, and counsellor, with a history of coaching executive leaders to bring diverse stories to the centre of organisational culture. He is excited to inform and inspire inclusive change.

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