ECOEQUO
Intercultural Awareness
Intercultural or cross-cultural competence in business leaders is the ability to interact effectively with people of other cultures. It enables leaders to shift cultural perspectives and adapt their behavior to cultural differences and commonalities, building successful collaborations and achieving a competitive advantage.
A high level of intercultural awareness accelerates the executive's cultural adaptation curve, reducing the risk of cultural shock and resulting in higher productivity and job satisfaction. On the contrary, a low level of awareness produces disengagement and loss of motivation, along with costly communication breakdowns, misunderstandings, and business blunders.
What is culture?
It is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the member of one group or category of people from others.
What are the four dimensions of intercultural awareness?
​Emotional resilience (ER)
Being among people from another culture can be frustrating, confusing, and lonely. In these situations, it is important to maintain a positive attitude, tolerate strong emotions, and cope with ambiguity and stress. It is also helpful to maintain one's self-esteem and self-confidence. Other characteristics associated with emotional resilience include confidence in one's ability to cope with unfamiliar situations and to positively reach new experiences. This can require courage, risk-taking, and a sense of adventure.
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Flexibility/openness (FO)
Adapting to different ways of thinking and acting requires an ability to be open to ideas and people that are different from oneself. These characteristics are also helpful in developing relationships with people who are different from oneself. Tolerance, lack of rigidity, and a liking for and comfort with all kinds of people are also features of people who are strong in this dimension.
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Perceptual acuity
Unfamiliar language—verbal or nonverbal—makes communication more difficult. Perceptual sensitivity is the key to successfully meeting this challenge. Perceptual acuity is associated with attentiveness to interpersonal relations and verbal and nonverbal behavior. It also involves paying attention to the context of the communication, reading people's emotions, being sensitive to one's effect on others, and communicating accurately. In addition, a person who scores high on this dimension can interpret information objectively.
Personal autonomy
When one encounters people whose values and beliefs are different from one's own, self-knowledge is essential. The main characteristic associated with personal autonomy is a strong sense of identity. Personal autonomy also includes the ability to maintain one's values and beliefs, take responsibility for one's actions, and respect oneself and others. People with higher personal autonomy feel empowered. They know how to make and act on their own decisions while respecting the decisions of others.