Cultural Intelligence: Managing Unconscious Bias

Ever wonder where your sub-conscious biases come from when they relate to cultures different than our own? Want to make changes to these thoughts? You can!

When we operate with high Cultural Intelligence (CQ), we are less likely to act on our biases, particularly when it comes to decision-making.
Bias is usually activated mentally but we can control the application of bias. We can consciously choose NOT to behave in biased ways when we take a step back and recognize when we’re having a biased thought or moment.

CQ helps you minimize the application of bias by building our knowledge, strategy, and ability to take intentional action.
Does this happen automatically? Is it easy? NOPE. Partially because our biases can be deep-rooted, something we’ve learned since childhood or repetitive experience and/or something we’ve never had to be conscious of before.

As we build our Cultural Intelligence, we learn to move from reacting unconsciously and quickly, to taking a more conscious, intentional approach. Just like when we learn any new skill, it takes a bit more effort at first. Over time and with practice, it gets easier and feels more natural because our awareness grows; we know what to look out for and most importantly, we learn how to differentiate between our biases and the truth.

Check out The 4 CQ Capabilities to see where you might sit and questions to ask yourself:

  • CQ DRIVE is the starting point for addressing bias because it helps you to consider the impact of bias on yourself and others.
    How much CQ Drive do you think you have? How important is it to you to understand your biases?

  • CQ KNOWLEDGE is understanding cultural differences and how biases influence interactions and performance.
    How much do you understand cultural differences? Have you ever made an effort to dive a little deeper into the cultural norms of a coworker or employee?

  • CQ STRATEGY is the use of specific, intentional, and practical strategies to manage unconscious bias.
    Have you ever gone above and beyond to uncover the reasons behind your biases?

  • CQ ACTION is the behavioural flexibility necessary to stop the application of bias in relationships and work.
    Do you want to be an inclusive person and and take action by putting your strategy into action?

Realising our biases and where they’ve come from can be eye-opening. Whatever the reason, we have the power to change our thoughts for the better of ourselves, our organization, for everyone.

-Carlos

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Does Diversity & Inclusion exist without Cultural Intelligence?