Episode 51
Cultural Intelligence in Times of Turmoil
This week, Trisha explores the importance of cultural intelligence amidst global chaos and uncertainty, encouraging listeners to act with cultural intelligence to preserve humanity and effectiveness during challenging times. Trisha revisits the four areas of cultural intelligence and offers strategies to sustain it, such as recognizing emotional responses, seeking diverse information, practising perspective-taking, maintaining human connections, and knowing one's values. She also shares an impactful experience centred around the monument for Tommie Smith, John Carlos, and Peter Norman, stressing the importance of standing as an ally during critical moments.
Make sure you join Trisha in this journey of growth and discovery throughout the year via Substack or LinkedIn.
Transcript
[00:00:39] Trisha: Hi there everyone. I'm Trisha Carter, an organizational psychologist and explorer of cultural intelligence. I'm on a quest to discover what enables us to see things from different perspectives, especially different cultural perspectives, and why sometimes it's easier than others to experience those moments of awareness.
[:[00:01:25] Trisha: Alongside the devastating ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Also watching the USA, those of us from outside and seeing groups of people who are increasingly experiencing real pain, economic pain, social pain for many mental health challenges and exclusion. As language becomes increasingly combative and at times absolutely dehumanizing, those of us who value cultural intelligence face a unique challenge.
[:[00:02:19] Trisha: That's what we'll be exploring today on the shift. Before we dive in, let me briefly remind you of the four areas of cultural intelligence that form the foundation of our discussions. There's motivational, cq, the drive, our interest and confidence and functioning effectively in culturally diverse settings.
[:[00:03:08] Trisha: Today. As always, we do especially focus on the metacognitive aspects, thinking about our thinking, and today we are focusing on times of polarization and conflict. The world we are navigating today is increasingly complex. We are witnessing trade tensions that threaten global supply chains and economic stability.
[:[00:03:56] Trisha: Social media and news cycles make it worse. they amplify the most extreme voices, making it very challenging to maintain nuanced perspectives in this environment, cultural intelligence isn't just helpful. It's essential when we feel threatened either physically or socially. Our natural tendency is to retreat into in-group thinking.
[:[00:04:43] Trisha: Mark spoke about why our brains operate this way and the impact it has on us in our interactions. I've observed this in group thinking in organizational settings during crisis teams that previously collaborated effectively suddenly became siloed and defensive. The same thing happens on a global scale.
[:[00:05:36] Trisha: The first is to recognize your emotional responses, acknowledge those reactions to global events.
[:[00:06:10] Trisha: Before engaging in discussion, I did take time to name the emotion and understand how it was shaping my thinking. This metacognitive pause didn't eliminate my perspective, but it did create space to consider others and enabled me to think more clearly as I was speaking about the situation. The second thing we can do is seek multiple information sources.
[:[00:07:00] Trisha: How does coverage of trade policies differ between American, European, and Chinese outlets? What perspectives on Middle Eastern conflicts come from regional versus western media? The goal isn't to determine what is right, but to understand how different cultural lenses shape the narrative.
[:[00:07:53] Trisha: Ask yourself, how might prioritizing community welfare over individual opportunity lead to different economic policies and vice versa, depending on what you are leaning towards. What historical experiences might inform different side's approaches to international relations. This doesn't require agreeing with positions that conflict with your values, but it does mean acknowledging the nuance or the cultural logic that might inform them.
[:[00:09:12] Trisha: It didn't fix the problem, but acknowledging geopolitical realities and shared humanity can build resilience and strength to face challenges within both you and in others. And fifthly Know your values and what it is that you will not flex on. We often speak about recognizing values and recognizing when is time to flex and when things might be part of our core.
[:[00:10:07] Trisha: International teams may experience heightened tensions reflecting global conflicts. Supply chain disruptions might strain cross-cultural business relationships and diaspora employees may feel caught between multiple loyalties. As leaders and colleagues, cultural intelligence gives us the tools to navigate these challenges.
[:[00:11:10] Trisha: I want to share an experience that profoundly affected my understanding of allyship and speaking up across cultural divides. Late last year, I visited San Jose State University and stood before the remarkable monument honoring Tommie Smith and John Carlos.
[:[00:11:59] Trisha: It was the empty second place podium. That spot belonged to Peter Norman, an Australian athlete. Norman's time in that race set an Australian record that stood for 56 years. What many don't know about Peter Norman is that though he was white. And Australian. He was an ally in that protest. He wore an Olympic project for human rights badge on the podium to show solidarity with Smith and Carlos and like them, he paid a heavy price. Despite being Australia's fastest sprinter. He was never selected to represent Australia in the Olympics again. He was essentially sidelined by the Olympic athletic community in his home country. He isn't actually depicted in the monument. Why? The space is intentionally left empty so visitors can step onto the podium and imagine themselves in that moment of history.
[:[00:13:30] Trisha: This experience reminds me that cultural intelligence isn't just about understanding different perspectives. It's about being prepared to act on that understanding. When critical moments arise in today's polarized world, we may find ourselves facing similar choices. Will we speak up when rhetoric dehumanizes others?
[:[00:14:22] Trisha: As we navigate these challenging times, I believe cultural intelligence offers not just professional advantages, but a path toward maintaining our shared humanity. By strengthening our metacognitive abilities to recognize multiple perspectives, we resist simplistic narratives that divide us into neat categories of us and them.
[:[00:15:09] Trisha: It's really complex. Hey. As you go about your week, I invite you to notice when you encounter dehumanizing language or oversimplified narratives about complex global situations, in those moments, pause and ask, what would it look like in this situation to maintain my values while expanding my understanding?
[:[00:15:56] Trisha: Please consider too, the allies who may be around you, reach out to others who can support you and stand with those who need your support. Please reach out and connect with me on LinkedIn if we aren't already, and message me if you would like to talk. Thank you for being part of the shift today. If our conversation sparked insights for you, consider sharing it with someone who might benefit, whether they're working globally or simply interested in expanding their cultural perspective during these challenging times.
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