What drives you?
“Leading in the twenty-first-century world means maneuvering the twists and turns of a multidimensional world. The continually shifting landscape of global leadership can be disorienting; experience and intuition alone a re not enough. But cultural intelligence offers a way through the maze that’s not only effective but also invigorating and fulfilling.“[1]
Leading with Cultural Intelligence by David Livermore emphasizes the importance cross-cultural work. He acknowledges that doing this work is not a simple task but it is a necessary one. Livermore discusses the concept of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) through a four dimensional model : CQ Drive, CQ Knowledge, CQ Strategy, and CQ Action. He poses a key question for the first dimension , CQ Drive, “What’s my level of confidence and motivation for this cross-cultural assignment? if it is lacking what can I do to increase it?” [2] CQ Drive refers to motivation that emcompasses intrinsic, extrinsic and self-efficacy. How does someone develop the drive for cross-cultural work? Livermore says that there are five ways to enhance CQ Drive:[3]
- Be honest with yourself- Honest helps us to properly assess our motivation. It also forces us to address our biases, prejudices and cross-cultural issues that we associate to people within a certain cultural group. Once we identify them we can face them. He suggest that we share our issues with a trusted friend. While that could be helpful, I think that could also be harmful. In the instance that a person surrounds themselves with like-minded people this could not be the best way to properly addressing biases and issues.
- Examine your confidence level- this requires examining our self efficacy.”Self-efficacy is an important predictor of cross-cultural adjustment.3 Without a strong sense of self-efficacy, a leader will avoid challenges and give up easily when confronted with setbacks.“[4] This leads us to ask ourselves “How confident am I in doing cross-cultural work?” Our confidence in what we are doing can have a direct impact on the how we choose to engage. If we believe that our work will be fruitful and successful then we increase our motivation and our confidence.
- Eat and socialize- Who doesnt love food and people? Livermore asserts that food and fellowship are also components to enhancing motivation for cross-cultural work. I remember when I went to Kyoto , Japan for a business trip. We went to this amazing restaurant that one of my japanese colleagues took us to. We were presented with an
array of food. One of which was a fish fully intact and cooked. Now while I was not accustomed to eating an entire fish, head, eyes, insides, I obliged while other of my American colleagues refused to touch it. Livermore, talks about how it can be a “scary” experience when eating loacal cuisine in a cross-cultural experience. What I found amusing is that he added a list of things a person can do to aid them in embracing a new food experience. I have found in many of my cross-cultural business trips that many deals happen over socialization and food. Food can provide a common ground and connection for people.
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- Count the perks- There can be many benefits that come with cross-cultural work. I can relate to this in the business context. The exposure that I received when I would go to various countries to work with their executives to close deals was life changing. I feel as though my life and career have been enriched and enhanced by not allowing fear or challenges to hinder me from fully engaging in cross-cultural business opportunities. I will say that this section was very business oriented in regards to the additional benefits like profit increases, career advancement, etc. these may not apply to everyone.
- Work on the triple bottom line (fiscal, humanitarian and environmental)- I appreciated his perspective on the triple bottom line which I refer to as profit, people and planet. I did my masters work on study how this concept can be applied in organizations. Because of this I am comitted to only work for businesses or organziation that embody a triple bottom line way of doing business. I believe for a company to truly be successful it must move beyond just making money and increasing profits for shareholders. They must consider people and planet to be as equally important. If not in the end we all lose. Livermore asserts that “If more power, wealth, and success are all that drive us, we’ll face burnout pretty fast. But as we and our organizations use the triple bottom line to fit into things larger than us, join them, and serve them, we can take our role in the big picture and find ourselves with heightened energy for persevering through the hard work of cross-cultural leadership. Life is about things that transcend us.”[5]
The question I would ask you is “What drives you to do cross-cultural work?”
[1] David A. Livermore, Leading with cultural intelligence: the real secret to success (New York: American Management Association, 2015), 22.
[2] Ibid, 44.
[3]Ibid.
[4] Ibid, 47.
[5] Ibid, 57.
About the Author
Christal Jenkins Tanks
10 responses to “What drives you?”
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“I believe for a company to truly be successful it must move beyond just making money and increasing profits for shareholders. They must consider people and planet to be as equally important. If not in the end we all lose.”
Christal I agree and what about churches? A few years ago we attended a conservative church that called people who cared about the environment “eco-freaks”. Also people who came to visit were mistreated if they did not dress ‘right’. And to complete the triple bottom line – you guessed it – making money was not spiritual. Needless to say we only lasted at that church a short while.
Livermore identified ‘drive’ as the most important factor that would help in CQ. I really enjoyed your expansion and examples.
In answer to your question – what drives me? I just like people; they are all fascinating!
Great post!!!
Mary, it is sad that you witnessed that experience. Unfortunately, the bias you witnessed is a common occurrence. America does not define the world around us. Our views are toxic and hateful for anyone who doesn’t conform.
Your blog post reminds me of some of the principles that I teach church members who go on mission trips. Many of them have never left the U.S.
Their most common fears are:
1) security
2) eating weird food
3) Getting sick (from eating the weird food).
I often remind them that many countries that we travel do are safer than our own city. Also, some countries we visit have life expectancies that are longer than the U.S.
In the end, I want help them to avoid culture shock.
I teach them them trick: When they see something that is scary, weird, etc. I tell them to take a deep breath and say this phrase: “My that’s different.”
That phrase helps them to put things into perspective.
Your fish story is a good example. Instead of saying “yuck” or “gross,” you said “that’s different, but I will give it a shot.”
Well done.
Yes absolutely! In that same vain, I no longer defer to my opinion. I realize that calling different doesn’t connect us it places others in a position of defense. I have learned it is less about my discomfort and more about me embracing their culture despite how I feel!
Christal,
love the post, especially the picture! A really nice job of expanding on the aspects of ‘Drive’…….. It is one of the things that I have noticed, affirming Livermore’s point that drive is the most important aspect: in our church, the white/american born members that aren’t interested in the cross-cultural engagement are without exception the ones that aren’t culturally intelligent and that, generally, don’t enjoy the cross-cultural aspects of our church….
Chip I understand how you feel! Having to come to grip with their privilege and power is so difficult. To see life in through someone else’s eyes that doesn’t place them at the center is unnerving. I pray for the the day they step aside.
Great picture Christal! Yes, food does bring us together. There’s nothing like great food with good company. It’s a rich experience.
In response to your closing question, I love the sights, sounds, tastes, and cultures of other places. Different people are fascinating and I always marvel how people can understand you and your intentions through non-verbals. This is the universal language.
Jen that is great! How does your love translate into giving up your power and privilege for others. Embracing or identifying what drives you is awesome! Please do not think or feel I am picking on you but I want to know on the ground where that lands and makes sense. Which are two very isolated questions ?
Great post and picture Christal! I’m with you on the food part. Culture is all about food and fellowship (relationship)! There is no better way to get “into” a culture than to spend time eating with others. If a person can take the time to watch very closely you can learn a lot at a meal. You can learn family and cultural pecking order, individual personalities, behavior patterns, cultural norms, the way a family disciplines their children, even the vibrancy and spice of the food–or lack thereof–speaks of the family and the larger culture. A lot can be done at a meal too. You can solve problems, make plans, grow spiritual and intellectually, learn from each other and learn culture. Enjoyed your post.
Thank you for bringing the business perspective to the forefront, but in a ministry context, Christal. Profits, people, and planet is a great business lens. I wish churches spent less time looking at profit and more at people and planet, but a business has to focus on profit to stay afloat.
Your picture and story about Japan is awesome. I don’t think I could manage the eyeballs, but I’d give the fish a try. haha. In Brazil, our hosts told us to at least try everything so as not to offend. I brought that home with me and realized being a fairly picky eater had likely caused offense here as well.
What drives me? The more people I meet from other cultures and the more I learn, the better picture I have of God’s multi-faceted Kingdom and the less likely I am to think the world revolves around the USA.