Today's Mitel Minute question: What are the most important skills for today’s global CX leaders?
There are plenty of technical and non-technical skills customer experience leaders need. Today, my vote goes to cultural intelligence.
You’ve probably heard of IQ and EQ. IQ is about fundamental problem-solving. EQ is emotional intelligence. It is about being able to understand human emotions and behavior and then knowing how to apply it to specific interactions.
Cultural intelligence, or CQ, adds to that. Similarly (but not exactly the same) is "global mindset."
What is CQ?
CQ is about being able to communicate, manage teams, adapt, and manage yourself across cultures. It is an important skill because one of the biggest challenges global business leaders face is navigating cultural nuances on their teams, among their clientele, and within their business dealings. Even when language barriers are not the main problem, other cultural barriers come into play.
From the Research
There are three interesting things about CQ from the research:
Leaders with high CQ perform better in international negotiations than those with low CQ. That's because they know how to decode culturally relevant information about others.
International travel is helpful for developing CQ, but it isn't necessarily required. CQ can be cultivated through multicultural social interactions close to home.
To cultivate CQ, challenge your assumptions. Sit back and observe others to build CQ.
Everything is global now. And leaders need cross-cultural know-how. That’s CQ.
What Skills Would You Add?
But! There's no definitive list of best leadership traits. CQ is just one trait to think about. So what would you add? Leave a comment on my Twitter or LinkedIn post and let’s compare notes!
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