The Culturally Intelligent Safety Professional - Looking back - Epsiodes 1 & 14

In this episode of the Culturally Intelligent Safety Professional we take a look back at episodes 1 & 14 of season 1. 

In Episode 1, I spoke with Shireen Chua about leadership's role in fostering inclusivity. Shireen emphasized the importance of leaders modeling inclusive behaviors and cultivating curiosity and reflection to develop CQ. She highlighted that CQ is not a one-time project but a continuous practice.

In Episode 14, I interviewed Dr. Catherine Wu in Singapore, who discussed her 20-year journey teaching cultural intelligence in Asia. Catherine explored the CQ framework, focusing on adaptation, knowledge, strategy, and action for effective multicultural interactions. She explained cultural challenges like power distance and communication styles, advocating for storytelling as a tool to enhance CQ and promote inclusivity in leadership.

These episodes underscore the significance of CQ in safety professionals' effectiveness in diverse settings. They provide practical insights and strategies for improving cultural awareness and adaptation. 

For the full recordings of these episodes go to
https://theculturallyintelligentsafetyprofessional.buzzsprout.com

Episode Transcript

Greg (00:00):
Welcome to another episode of the Culturally Intelligent
Safety Professional, a podcastaimed at providing a platform
whereby safety professionals candevelop a pathway to enhance
their cultural intelligencecapability, which will help them
function more effectively whenworking in a multicultural
situation.
I'm Greg Dearsly, your host andbetween February and June of

(00:23):
2024, I interviewed 15 peoplefor season one of the Culturally
Intelligent Safety Professionalpodcast.
These fabulous guests range fromCQ professionals, academics and
communication and safetyprofessionals, and they hailed
from not only New Zealand butincluded people based in
Singapore and Australia.

(00:45):
I'm grateful for the time thatthese guests put aside to speak
with me and share theirknowledge.
Over the next few weeks, I aimto further analyze and reflect
on some of the content.
I have grouped the feedback anddiscussions into like sessions,
including cultural intelligence,education, neurodiversity,
Māori/Pacifika and aninternational episode.

(01:10):
In this first summary session wereflect on episodes 1 and 14
which featured outstandingtalent in the cultural
intelligence space.
In episode one I spoke withShireen Chua who shared her
journey of cultural identity andhow to create inclusive
workplaces.
A key insight from Shireenincluded the importance of

(01:33):
leadership in fosteringinclusivity.
Here's a snippet from whatShireen had to say about
leadership.

Shireen (01:39):
Particularly as we start to wrestle with this
complexity part of, culturaldiversity, which is quite
emerging and certainly from thePhD here is a sneak preview
leadership matters and, thatit's actually, the leadership
have to do the, the hard mahi orwork in themselves to develop
their intercultural sensitivityor intelligence, for want of a

(02:04):
better word, but, but in termsof sensitivity, to see the
nuances before they can actuallylead organizations or alongside
that, so, you know, it's not aproject to be delegated.
It's, something they need to,commission work, but they have
to model those behaviors that,actually create the inclusion,

(02:24):
belonging and equity that theworld is moving to it, your
workforce is calling for it and,in some ways that's where value
and impact is

Greg (02:33):
So it's about behaviors as leaders that is an important as
a first step to creating aninclusive environment.
I guess this harks back to theadage, that leadership is a
verb, not a noun, it's a doingword and Shireen talks about
modeling behaviors.
Shireen also offered somepractical tips for developing
cultural intelligence, includingthe value of curiosity, heres

(02:58):
more.

Shireen (02:59):
I think whether it's individuals or teams, groups of,
individuals, aren't they?
I think one of your, first tipsis to make time to notice and be
curious.
Because in our busyness ofdeadlines and things we have to
do your, curiosity goes away.
Your CQ drive goes away.

(03:21):
So slowing down your brain andmaking time to notice those
things is, a really hard butrich tip.
Because you may discover thedeeper layers that emerge out of
that.

Greg (03:37):
And another gem from Shireen was around the area of
reflection and understandingdiverse perspectives.

Shireen (03:43):
But I think it's also a real antidote to our busyness to
pause and, reflect, you know,the end of each day.
Take the time to reflect what,been the best and hardest part
of that meeting or that person.
Because that's also the otherpart that you need to be using
those muscles.
Your, cultural intelligence,your intercultural intelligence

(04:04):
muscles because it's notsomething you happen overnight.

Greg (04:07):
These last two snippets where Shireen discussed
curiosity and reflection talkdirectly to two aspects of the
CQ framework being CQ drive andCQ strategy.
Being how we reflect onexperiences of being involved in
multicultural situations.
I liked Shireen's last point inwhich she effectively said, if

(04:29):
you don't use it, you'll loseit, referring to what she called
your intercultural intelligencemuscles.
In epsiode 14, I was luckyenough to find myself in
Singapore and had the greathonor to meet and chat kanohi te
kanohi or face to face with Dr.

(04:49):
Catherine Wu, someone who hasbeen teaching cultural
intelligence in Asia for 20years.
In this episode, Catherineexplored her journey from
growing up in a French villageto teaching in Asia, emphasizing
the impact of cultural values onthose interactions.

(05:09):
Catherine explored the culturalintelligence framework,
highlighting components likedrive, knowledge, strategy and
action for effective adaptationin multicultural settings.
This concept of adaptation isimportant as Catherine explains.

Catherine (05:27):
And so they did it backward and they started by
looking at, okay, what isadaptation?
And if I ask you, what isadaptation?
I've already told you adaptationis getting the job done and
building better relationship.
Adaptation is.
Is define, is actually thedefinition of intelligence.
In psychology, intelligence isadaptation.

(05:49):
Is adaptation to the, aparticular environment.
Yep.
Now this is a commonmisunderstanding.
People think intelligence isabout, how well you do in school
and how good you are, butactually IQ is only your ability
to adapt to the demand of anacademic environment.

Greg (06:06):
Catherine also delves into cultural challenges such as
power distance and communicationstyles.

Catherine (06:12):
Okay, so power distance is associated to
respect for authority and also ahigh level of sensitivity to the
social order.
Yeah.
So when you encounter a culturethat has a high power distance,
People are going to first senseyou and they, in their mind,

(06:34):
even without realizing it, theyhave a certain number of
criteria that are going todetermine, help them determine
whether they should approach youas someone who is above them,
equal to them, or below them.

Greg (06:45):
Catherine went on to explain some of the differences
in pronoun use, not in respectof gender but in respect of
hierarchy.
And she pointed to examples fromboth French and Chinese cultures
we're pronouns are differentbased on social status of things
like age or authority.
She also discussed how people inpower tend to have more

(07:08):
flexibility in the way theycommunicate, which can sometimes
be a source of tension andconflict.
Catherine advocated forstorytelling as a tool for
cultivating culturalintelligence and promoting
inclusivity in leadership.

Catherine (07:24):
Begin by telling your stories.
These stories They will helpsomeone who has no clue, someone
who has never encounteredanother culture or has never
thought about those differences.
By listening to those stories,they will start seeing things
they didn't see before.
They will start thinking aboutother people's behaviors in a

(07:44):
way that They had never thoughtof before, and then once they
have that awareness, then theywill be prepared, to learn more,
to read the books, to learnabout this cultural dimensions,
the theories and all of this.

Greg (07:59):
These summaries capture the essence of these episodes
with a particular focus on thecapability that is cultural
intelligence.
I hope you found somethingvaluable that you can take away
that might enhance aspects ofyour own cultural intelligence.
I'll add the transcript fromthis episode to the show notes.
If you'd like to talk aboutcultural intelligence get in
touch with me via LinkedIn.

(08:20):
I'm posting content regularly sokeep an eye on your feed and
comment if you see somethingthat resonates, if we aren't
connected send me an invite.
If you want to hear more aboutCQ, you can follow and subscribe
to this podcast I'd reallyappreciate it if you did that.
And keep an eye out for the nextepisode.

(08:42):
In the next episode I'll providean overview from an academic and
education perspective in ourdiscussions with Chris Peace,
Marilyn Hubner and DeborahRhodes.
Thanks again for tuning into theCulturally Intelligence Safety
Professional.
Ka Kitei