The Culturally Intelligent Safety Professional - Looking Back Episode 2 & 6

In this second looking back episode we reflect on the practical insights and strategies offered by our guests for improving cultural awareness and adaptation. From episode 2 we reflect on the discussion with Chris Peace who highlights communication mishaps due to cultural misunderstandings and adapting teaching methods for international students. Chris advocated for including CQ in health and safety curricula to improve stakeholder interactions.

In episode 6 we spoke with Dr. Marilyn Hubner who emphasizes CQ as a mindset crucial for safety professionals, discussing challenges and successes in teaching diverse groups. Marilyn advocates for accommodating diverse learning styles and ongoing education about cultural differences.

Both guests stress the importance of nonverbal communication and adapting to cultural norms in professional interactions. The discussions encourage ongoing learning and engagement aiming to foster inclusive practices in safety professions.

Episode Transcript

Greg (00:01):
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 in turn
help them function moreeffectively when working in a
multicultural situation.

(00:21):
I'm Greg, Dearsly your host andbetween February and June of
2024 I interviewed a number ofpeople for season one of the
culturally intelligent safetyprofessional podcast.
These fabulous guests range fromCQ professionals, academics,
communication and safetyprofessionals, and they haled
from not only New Zealand butincluded people based in

(00:43):
Singapore and Australia.
I'm grateful for the time thatthe guests put aside to speak
with me and share theirknowledge.
Over coming weeks I aim tofurther analyze and reflect on
some of the content.
I've grouped the feedback anddiscussions into like sessions,
including cultural intelligence,education, Neurodiversity, Māori

(01:03):
and Pacifica.
and other areas.
In this second summary wereflect on episodes two and six
which featured two wonderfulguests, both with a background
in academia and education.
In episode two, we spoke toChris Peace who has a wealth of
experience and insights to offerin the realm of cultural

(01:26):
intelligence within the safetyprofession.
Chris.
Delved into his experience ofcommunication mishaps when he
shared anecdotes of culturalmisunderstanding.
He talked about his experiencesobserving and interacting with
students where he had tonavigate cultural values where
there were differences in genderdynamics and cultural norms such

(01:47):
as handshaking customs.
This led to a need to adapt histeaching methods and course
materials to accommodateinternational students with
varying values and norms.
He included the addition ofconstructive feedback and
utilizing university supportservices to assist in this area.

(02:07):
On meeting people Chris had someadvice.

Chris (02:10):
So going with their style, their approach is the
important thing, take theirlead.
And that requires quite a bit ofSubtle preparation before going
into a meeting

Greg (02:26):
This is a key concept of cultural intelligence and
specifically CQ strategy.
Chris highlighted the subtlepreparation needed before going
into a meeting where attendeesmight be different from you.
Being prepared, and having theability to adapt.
We discussed adaptation and aprevious episode in relation to

(02:47):
our discussions with Dr.
Catherine.
Wu.
We went on to have a discussionwith Chris about whether CQ
should be part of the health andsafety curriculum.
Chris's view, a clear yes,explaining it would improve
interactions with diversestakeholders and promote
effective communication andengagement, here's more.

Chris (03:09):
Yeah, definitely.
Because of the way things areset up, for example, here at
Vic, the Master's Programme isaccredited by IOSH in the uk.
So the papers, the health andsafety papers that we teach are
required to meet IOSHrequirements...

(03:29):
There is not much scope to gobeyond, but I wish there were...
we should be teaching how tointeract with people better...
how to engage and engage withpeople as equals and not knock
them because they don't know asmuch as you do, or at least

(03:54):
that's what you think is thecase.
So yeah, it should form part ofthe syllabus, but at the moment
it doesn't form very much.

Greg (04:04):
In episode six we posed a similar question to Dr.
Marilyn Hubner about culturalintelligence being part of the
safety curriculum.
Marilyn emphasized theimportance of cultural awareness
as more than just a skill, but amindset crucial for safety
professionals operating inglobal environments.
She reflects on incidents wherecultural insensitivity occurred

(04:27):
at conferences and stresses theneed for inclusivity and
understanding in professionalsettings.
Here's some of what she had tosay.

Marilyn (04:36):
That's a pretty big question.
Does it fit?
The simple answer is yes, as aculturally aware person, it
absolutely, it fits not only inthe curriculum, but in practice
in general.
It's such an essential I guessyou could call it a skill, but I
don't actually think culturalintelligence is a skill I think
it's more of a mindset that youneed to have,

Greg (04:58):
Marilyn goes further and talks about some of the possible
misconceptions educators have oftheir students.
She uses the term power skillsand like me doesn't believe the
term soft skills is an accuratedescriptor of these people
skills or essential skills suchas EQ, CQ, empathy, et cetera.

(05:20):
He is more from Marilyn

Marilyn (05:21):
I think at the moment we just expect our students to
have power skills, to have goodcommunication skills, to have
empathy, to have culturalintelligence and emotional
intelligence.

Greg (05:33):
As with the comments from Chris Peace, while they both
agree that cultural intelligenceis essential, current
educational structures oftenlack the flexibility to fully
incorporate it.
Marilyn shares her experiencesteaching safety courses
highlighting the challenges andsuccesses of engaging with
diverse groups, including olderlearners and Neurodiverse

(05:56):
students.
She stresses the need foreducational practices that
accommodate different learningstyles and abilities.
Again, consistent with commentsfrom Chris Peace around the role
of technology and accommodatingdiversity to enable academic
success.
In concluding the discussionMarilyn provides tips for safety

(06:18):
professionals to improvecultural intelligence in their
roles including incorporatingdiversity in training materials
and embracing lifelong learningabout cultural differences.
She emphasizes the significanceof nonverbal communication in
cross-cultural interactionsurging professionals to be
mindful and adaptive in theirapproaches.

(06:44):
Overall the discussions withMarilyn and Chris underscore the
importance of culturalintelligence and safety
education, and the ongoingefforts needed to foster
inclusive and effectivepractices in the field.
These summaries capture theessence of these episodes with a
particular focus on thecapability that is cultural
intelligence.

(07:05):
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.
I'm posting content regularly sokeep an eye on your feed and
comment if you see somethingthat resonates.

(07:27):
If we aren't connected, send mean 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.
In the next episode, I'llprovide an overview from
incorporating the variousdiscussions I had with guests in

(07:47):
the area of neurodiversity.
Thanks again for tuning in tothe Culturally Intelligent
Safety Professional.
Ka kitei.