We all know them - people, who have been hired because of outstanding professional and technical qualifications, but who, unfortunately, are impossible to work together with. One of the reasons why we have these "talented islans" as we call them in Gugin is because these people have very low cultural intelligence. Low interpersonel skills and poor interest in co-creating and learning from other often lead to individuals who are outstanding in their technical or professional area, but who lacks most other the other skills in order to function in a modern world.
Still, when companies are hiring, most companies have a strong focus on hard skills and experiences and less focus on the. cultural fit between the person and the organisation. This is the main reason why people leave shortly after they have been hired. That is also why Gugin has worked with many companies over the year on changing the recruiting process, so that they test for cultural fit between the candidate and the company before testing for skills fit between the candidate and the skills requirements.
Doing it that way around have a lot of advantages. And you can always teach people new skills, but you can't - and shouldn't - change their personality.
In this article we will outline some of the most important signs of a person having low cultural intelligence or a bad cultural fit with a particular organisation.
Only one Truth
One of the most significant sign of low cultural intelligence is the lack of ability to accept that there is more than one perspective. You will often here people with low cultural intelligence use a phrase like "I just say things as they are". It is a statement that clearly indicates that the person who say it fulle believes that she or he has the only right perspective on a given matter.
They will try to overrule alternative opinions and try to convince people with other opinions that they are wrong. At no time will they reflect and accept that there may be more than one trush and they will certainly not be open for any adjustments of own views or mobilise any curiosity towards other perspectives.
People with low cultural intelligence don't learn from other people. They only learn from own painful mistakes and they will never disclose or admit that they have changed perspective.
Only little admiration for - or even contempt for people with different perspectives
The lack of ability to accept other perspectives is another characteristic character of people with low cultural intelligence and of course closely linked to the first one above.
We develop cultural intelligence if we are exposed to different kind of people during our childhood and younger years. Children don't have prejudices. It is something we learn as we grow up. So children who have been exposed to many different people in many different contexts are by nature culturally intelligent.
Therefore, people with low cultural intelligence are predominantly people who don't have any or low intercultural experiences from their younger years. So when they react with contempt and rejection towards people with other perspectives it is mere a sign of fear for the unknown. And we human beings often see the unknown as a threat initially.
So when Gugin helps companies develop cultural intelligence we divide the employees into 3 groups. The first group are those who alreasdy have a fairly high level of cultural intelligence. They just need to put their intellectual assets into our common framework.
The second group are those who are aware of the differences, but still have a preference for not interacting or broaden their horizons. We help them the last bit with tailored and dedicated training
The third group are those with low cultural intelligence. They are in all organisations but in different quantities. This group is particular important to address when we are facilitating an integration of two organisations after a merger or acquisition. This group can destroy everything, so we often do an initial screening where we assess each of them and give a recommendation to the management whether we thing they can stay or they will have to leave the company. It might seem as a drastic move. But it is necessary when you know hoe much a few people can obstruct a necessary change process. One of the main reasons why 2/3 of all mergers and acquisitions fail is because this group is allowed to derail the integration process.
Have preference for individual achievement and individual recognition
They are often single or in short-term relationships
They usually value rules over relationships
Dr Finn Majlergaard
CEO Gugin, Professor, Author, Keynote Speaker, Author
- We align your corporate culture with your strategy.
- We take you safely through major changes in your organisation.
- We develop the crucial cultural intelligence in your organisation by training your employees and leaders
- We help you develop a competitive advantage with a unique corporate culture
Gugin has helped more than 600 companies around the world creating a winning corporate culture.
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