Leading with Cultural Intelligence

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Liberty University School of Divinity Finishing the Great Commission and Intercultural Communication Assignment Gabriel Oswald GLST 650 10 December 2023

CQ Assessment During this assignment, I was able to learn more about just how much I know or think that I know. I think that it was interesting to be able to get into this and think about it deeper and think about cultural intelligence as “a malleable capability that can be enhanced by multicultural experiences, training and self-awareness programs, travel and education.” 1 I have always thought that I was someone who knew a decent amount about other cultures and was not super surprised to see that I scored the highest in intelligence as far as CQ goes. I find that there are many times where I can know something or pick up on something but choose not to act on it or do not think it is necessary and that is why I scored the lowest in the strategy portion. Throughout most of my life, I have mostly just respected other cultures while not trying to treat them any differently than I would anyone else because that is the action that I found respectful. Many times, I have probably thought the phrase, “we’ll figure it out.” I am not the most strategic person ever and have found that at times plans tend to fall apart and that is when people do not know what to do in a multicultural setting. I think that this is something I have been very aware of and have not done a lot. Overall, I think there are many areas to grow in always. I think something that showed a lot in the test was how much I can observe and know other cultures and how much I know about them. My biggest strength was probably my ability to pick up on what other cultures are like and how they interact with the rest of the world. A lot of this has most likely come from my exposure to other cultures through school in Chicago or from knowing a lot of missionaries who have either come from other cultures or adopted those cultures and have taught me things about them. I have picked up a lot from just loving history and geography and have learned a lot about cultures throughout history and how they have evolved and become so different. This knowledge and strength of 1 2023 Cultural Intelligence Center , LLC | www . culturalQ . comGabriel Oswald

mine has been something that has come more naturally. I have been able to learn a lot of things on mission trips of my own and had to learn on the fly most of the time when I did not understand something. Being in Puerto Rico, I did not know Spanish and had to figure out what things people meant when they talked to me. Coming out of that experience was very positive and I was able to think a lot more about the way that other cultures look at and solve problems or even if they see certain things as problems. My weakest point was strategy. It was not really a surprise because this has been a weak point in most of my life. Most of my learning is on the fly and I usually prefer not to plan ahead. I think that thinking about this in a multicultural setting, many people do the same thing. In my head, I usually just think “these are people who think and care about certain things and Ill respect that.” My strategy usually does not go that far because I do not think of people in terms of the business way that this test reflects, rather, I just see them as people different than me who need Jesus just as much. I think that this weakness naturally feeds into the action because it is not something that I always think about. This has been something that I have been convicted of and have had to think more about how I want to do. Actually taking the time to think about other cultures and how I can serve them in their own specific way will help out in ministry so much. “Although the work of CQ Drive is never really done, at some level, it becomes more familiar and comfortable the more we do it.” 2 I know that the more I lean into the test results, the more results I will see and the better I will be able to respond. It has taken me some time to be able to see and know different cultures for what they do and prefer, but for me to take the next step would be a super helpful thing to do. I think of the first time I ever learned languages in high school and started to love German culture. I started to look into family history and the cultural 2 David Livermore, Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success, Second Edition. (American Management Association, 2015), 63

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history of Germany and as a high schooler I thought it was so weird. I eventually started to love it and since then, have loved learning and knowing things about other cultures. I would like to be able to put this into practice and am not sure what that will look like yet. There is a lot of traveling that I want to do and a lot that I still want to learn about the world while I am still young and have the energy to leave the house as much as I can. It helps being in the Chicago suburbs and having quick easy access to the city and the vast melting pot that it is. In the future, I would like to be better and quicker to plan and stick to it when meeting someone new so that I do not have to try and figure out what they are like, rather I can know and adjust properly and in a way that they will feel loved and cared for in whatever way I can do that. For me to be able to do this when learning about a new culture, I think that I should write down ten things that I learn and can apply about any given culture that I am going into. This will help me a lot when I look to serve them.

Leading with Cultural Intelligence I thought that the book was laid out very well. For being a book that is not specifically about ministry and about culture, I felt that there were a lot of good applications to be taken out of it and that there was still a lot to think about. The way that CQ was broken down throughout the book and how it was applied helped me take a closer look at my own cultural intelligence and think about what ways I can expand on it and apply it in different scenarios. I think the only thing that I did not really like about it was that it was not written with a specific audience in mind. I know that the point is that it can be used for a lot of groups but felt like I was in a business seminar and am trying to find out how to make money. I know that the point of the book is still helpful, and I was able to take a lot out of it. I do wish that it was written with a more specific audience in mind that was more geared towards those wanting to do ministry overseas. There are many great applications to take out of this book and five that stick out in particular. Application 1: The first big thing that stuck out to me was when the author was first talking about the importance of having that multi-cultural team and leading them well. “Fostering good communication and building trust have always been two seminal issues in leadership, but learning how to do so among a culturally diverse team is a whole new challenge” 3 The team of youth leaders that I run youth group with is a very diverse team. We have different races from many different areas around us and there are times where I have communicated something in my very midwestern straightforward way that have offended leaders because of my lack of communication. I have had to grow and learn through this but it has been quite the uncomfortable process and I have apologized many times over things that I never would have 3 David Livermore, Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success , Second Edition. (American Management Association, 2015), 16.

imagined could confuse or hurt anyone. I think that through this process, I have also built trust and learned things about other cultures and now know certain things not to say or do. Thinking about this even outside of ministry, I have become slower to speak and quicker to hear and think about what I do and say and will continue to do so as being reminded by this text. I am a quick to speak person and still have a long way to go with this, but I have built strong bonds through admitting those mistakes. Application 2 Another thing that I thought about a lot reading this book was about my own comfortability and life as an introvert. “The energy required to socially interact with people from different cultural backgrounds often causes us to retreat to more familiar and comfortable social contexts.” 4 Seeing this quote reminded me that I have been guilty of this a lot. Even being in the city during undergrad, I wanted friends from my hometown to come and visit me so bad because I missed that comfortable, easy life that I had enjoyed when I was at home. Reading through this, I thought a lot about ministry and why I do what I do. Thinking about this, I began to really feel that “The call toward something bigger can play a powerful role in increasing our overall CQ Drive.” 5 I think that reading about this in a ministry perspective was super encouraging and made me remember some of the reasons that God called me into ministry in the first place. I think that in the future, I need to be able to look around any room and remember the call that has been put on my life. By doing this, I will be able to be more effective and go further in everything. Application 3 4 David Livermore, Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success , Second Edition. (American Management Association, 2015), 56. 5 David Livermore, Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success , Second Edition. (American Management Association, 2015), 62.

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I also thought that even though this book is not written in terms of Christianity, it has a lot of good things to think about specifically for Christians. “ Those coming from religiously devout contexts into more secular ones need to understand the perceptions that may be associated with religious devotion” 6 The section before this talks about Protestantism and capitalism and I think that it was an interesting thing to think about and am not sure if I fully see what the author is getting at or if I fully agree. I do, however, think that the point about secular perceptions and Christianity is very good. Being in my other job where I work at the gym, I am constantly surrounded by people who want nothing to do with God and have all of their beliefs about me and what I think set in stone. It is interesting to try and have conversations about why they think the things that they do about me. Most are pretty honest, but I think it is a really helpful thing to think about why Christians are seen the way they are, and how we can talk about that. I watch a lot of videos where people refute those to learn not only how to respond, but what questions people ask the most. I think that they have helped a lot and want to make sure that I find even better ones. Application 4 One thing that I thought about a lot while reading this was about the nonverbal communication that we see across the world. “with heightened awareness of others, an individual will realize that although smiles might reflect genuine happiness, they just as well might be a nervous response that indicates little about the other person’s level of contentment.” 7 Even outside of an intercultural context, there are a lot of people who do not wear their emotions on their face the same way that I do. It could be easy for me to glace over something like this and 6 David Livermore, Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success , Second Edition. (American Management Association, 2015), 93. 7 David Livermore, Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success , Second Edition. (American Management Association, 2015), 146.

not notice but as a leader, I have had to take notice of the smaller things and see more details than ever before. Being able to read past someone’s expression is a skill that I am still working on but there are many times where if you ask someone the same question a few times the real answer will come out. In the future, I want to read when someone is not doing well and know how they act normally so that I can notice when things are off or different than they usually are. As far as applying this, it will come with time and me noticing the behaviors of people better than I currently do. Application 5 The last thing that I found the most important in my current ministry was that “Unless senior leaders embody the values and vision of your organization, those ideas remain mere words on a PowerPoint presentation or web page.” 8 I can train but until I actually step out and lead my volunteers, we won’t be more culturally sensitive. To do this, I want to set measurable goals for leaders to learn new things about different students every month and learn about a student’s parents, life, and lifestyle culturally and to be able to do ministry in that context. Of course, that starts with me and my goal to meet two parents per week and invite them over for dinner to get to know them and their family’s culture better. With this attitude, I am hoping that my leaders will do the same. 8 David Livermore, Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success , Second Edition. (American Management Association, 2015), 209.

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