Golden Rule, or Platinum Rule?
The Golden Rule comes in many variations, but fundamentally states “Treat others as you would have them treat you.” This sounds fine, until we realize the underlying assumption being made that others wanted to be treated the same way as we do.
The Platinum Rule perhaps offers a better approach, “Treat others how THEY want to be treated”. In this way, we are demonstrating respect and empathy, and CQ provides the skills and tools to get us there.
CQ (Cultural Intelligence) is what gives leaders the skills and confidence to effectively lead diverse teams. But how does CQ work?
CQ can be measured through a set of four capabilities which will consistently show up in individuals who are effective working and relating across cultures:
CQ Drive represents the motivation and confidence we will be successful when working and relating across cultures, and our ability to persist in the face of adversity or challenges.
CQ Knowledge represents our cognition or cultural awareness of how cultures and similar and different, including how to better see our own #biases
CQ Strategy represents our metacognition, including planning for the intercultural interaction, demonstrating awareness in the moment, and checking our assumptions so we can adjust our mental maps if needed.
CQ Action represents the ability to adapt our verbal and non verbal behaviors to be more inclusive and effective when relating across cultures.
Developing and applying these capabilities not only builds more effective and inclusive leaders, it will also make the world a better place. And the great news is that anyone can develop their CQ!
Original version of this blog post on LinkedIn