Cultural intelligence, cultural quotient (CQ) – these terms refer to the new reality of communicating and doing business across cultures. It represents a person’s ability to understand and adapt to the perspective of another. In a world of increasingly blurring borders, you are almost certain to interact with people of various cultural heritage. Whether the difference is linguistic, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic or other, it’s important to bridge that gap and find ways to connect with others. This will help you develop better personal relations, expand your professional opportunities and offer beneficial learning experiences. While CQ is becoming a crucial tool in business, it may well become necessary in everyday life also. It will help bring people together in the melting pot of cultures that is our world.
If you want to get closer acquainted with CQ, TED Talks are a great way to get inspired and gain some valuable insight on a subject. We’ve compiled some of the best TED Talks on Cultural Intelligence to watch today.
Cultural intelligence — a new way to think about global effectiveness | Jeff Thomas | TEDxSpokane (5:05 min)
Jeffrey Thomas delivers an all-around summary of CQ: what are its challenges and benefits, how to develop it. He highlights the importance of applying cultural intelligence in helping the world move forward, resolving issues and finding ways to work together.
Thomas is known for his work as the CEO of Ambassador Programs – one of the biggest companies specialized in getting students to travel and learn abroad.
Cultural intelligence: the competitive edge for leaders | Julia Middleton | TEDxEastEnd (13:35 minutes)
This is a good talk to follow up on Jeff Thomas’. Julia Middleton forecasts cultural intelligence coming to the forefront as a vital characteristic in leadership, replacing IQ and EQ. She talks about the concept of a person’s core and flex personalities, and the importance of finding balance between them. She concludes by saying that CQ is the quality that will allow leaders to thrive and change the world for the better.
Middleton is well reputed for her Common Purpose UK charity that promotes leadership development with a multicultural focus. She is also an author, having written several books on cultural intelligence and leadership.
Cross cultural communication | Pellegrino Riccardi | TEDxBergen (19:17 minutes)
This is easily one of the best talks on cross cultural communication. Pellegrino Riccardi provides a very interesting view on communicating between cultures, the importance of understanding yourself and the perception of people. Through funny anecdotes, he showcases examples of individuals with different backgrounds trying to communicate together. We get a chance to learn how to become more open and adaptive to other cultures in order to coexist.
Riccardi is a renowned speaker, moderator and speaker trainer with a diverse background of Italian, British and Norwegian cultures. He has a special knack for connecting with audiences across generations, ethnicities and languages. This transpires in the way he approaches multicultural communication in this talk.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed these videos. Live, learn and get inspired!
