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CI Model in Action

2 October, 2015 - 15:12
  • Acquire: Joanne is in a formal position of leadership in this case study. As a leader who wants to be culturally intelligent, Joanne would seek to understand what experiences she has had in the past that contribute to her thinking about individuals like Julia. She needs to make the connection between this information and the new information about what she wants to experience related to generational culture. It would be helpful for Joanne to think about how she feels and what she might suspect Julia to feel in their interactions. Identifying emotions and feelings can serve as a great source of feedback to help Joanne comprehend the full picture of the situation.
  • Build: To improve her cultural intelligence, Joanne can seek out a mentor who has worked with individuals like Julia. In CI work, it is important to be able to talk through cultural situations, particularly your plans and goals related to working with different cultural groups. In this situation, a mentor can help Joanne to identify the pieces of culture that she may not be picking up such as Julia’s high expectations of herself, her ability to get things done in an informal work setting, and her working style preference.
  • Contemplate: Joanne, in this case study, thinks that Julia is very capable to carry out projects and tasks. However, she can do more to help build her own self-efficacy as well as Julia’s, thus improving both their cultural intelligence. It is more effective if Joanne schedules weekly evaluation and progress sessions with Julia. In this session, Joanne can help Julia to understand specific outcomes and expectations as well as take the opportunity to mentor her. Developing her cultural intelligence would mean that Joanne comes to these meetings prepared to provide the right type of feedback and recognize when to provide this feedback.
  • Do: Joanne is able to quickly point out to what Julia’s blind spots are in their interactions. But does Joanne see her own blind spots? In this component of CI, Joanne can and should evaluate her own behavior, including what she may not see because she is too focused on whether Julia will make a mistake. Her ability to adapt rests on her acknowledgement of what makes her uncomfortable when Julia performs well. Does she hold a belief or attitude about how work can be completed? Or who can do the work?