EQ - Emotional Intelligence - The ability to engage in information processing about one’s own and others’ emotions and the ability to use this information as a guide to thinking and changing behavior. Individuals high in emotional intelligence pay attention to, use, understand, and manage emotions, and these skills serve adaptive functions that potentially benefit themselves and others. Psychologist Daniel Goleman identified five elements that make up emotional intelligence.

These are:

• Self-awareness
• Self-regulation
• Motivation
• Empathy
• Social skills

Microaggressions & Micro-Inequities - The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) scenarios of Microaggressions and Micro-Inequities are designed to provide leaders the opportunity to explore routine diversity and inclusion “disconnects” that occur in the workplace. These scenarios take into consideration the simultaneity of various diverse characteristics as rarely do situations involve one dimension of diversity.

Micro Inequities - Small events based on subtle... unintentional biases, are pervasive and can lead to unintentional or intentional discriminatory behavior. Micro-inequities is a term coined by Mary Rowe back in 1973. Conveyed through…
> Facial Expressions > Gestures > Tone of Voice/Choice of Words

Micro-inequities can best be described as "apparently small events, comments, (small paper-cuts) which are often and hard-to-prove, events which are covert and at times unintentional, frequently unrecognized by the deliverer, which occur wherever people are perceived to be different."

Micro-Inequities : Seemingly “Small Stuff”
• Shortening your name when being introduced
• Being impatient because of an accent, or speaking fast
• Cutting-down ideas before they can be considered
• Repeatedly misspell/mispronounce someone’s name
• Some of my best friends are …”
• Raising your voice, even though the other person has no difficulties hearing you
• “I don't think of you as …”
• “Where are you really from?”
• Checking emails or texting during a face-to-face conversation

Micro-inequities also tend to apply without direct regard to the person’s identity.
A few examples: The leader says good morning to everyone but one person.
A manager repeatedly ignores the existence of a colleague in the elevator.
A group of employees go out for coffee or drinks after work and leave one person on the team consistently behind. Read more

Microaggression - Brief and commonplace daily verbal or behavioral indignities... whether intentional or unintentional, conscious, or unconscious that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative attitudes towards primarily perceived minority groups. Underlying Causes of Microaggressions can stem from stereotypical depictions of minorities in various experiences. Microaggressions can be intentional or unintentional and sometimes even well-meaning. But they communicate hostile, derogatory or negative racial messages or assumptions to the receiver. Talking about microaggressions is important because words matter.

Micro-Aggressions are almost always specific to an individual’s identity.
Here are some examples:
• I went to see a woman doctor.
• I did not know you like white music (said to an African American). What is white music?
• To a person of color: you are so articulate.
• You don’t look Jewish.
• He is Christian, but very open-minded.
• It’s great you don’t have any accent (to a Haitian American).
• I never would have guessed you were gay.
• I'm colorblind.' or 'When I look at you, I don't see color.'
• You are doing such a great job (to a disabled employee who is doing no better than anyone else.)
• A man or woman clutches their purse or checks their wallet as a male person of color approaches or passes them.
• A blind man reports that people often raise their voices when speaking to him.
• You don’t sound black
• Staff member of color mistaken for a service worker.
• Being ignored at a store counter as attention is given to the White customer.
• Saying “You people…”
• Raising your voice or speaking slowly when addressing a blind person
• You’re so articulate
• People with disabilities - “I could never deal with that.”
• People with disabilities -“Your parent/spouse must be a saint.”
• People with disabilities -“I’d hate to have .”
• Asking a person “What are you?”
• Avoiding eye contact or physical contact with a person with a disability
• Can I touch your hair ?
• A woman speaks up during a business meeting and afterward is told that she was being too assertive.
Read more

Cultural Quotient - Today’s global work environment is the new normal. It is virtually impossible to work in a modern organization without some degree of impact from varying parts of the world. Ignoring the impact of multiple time zones, cross-cultural communication challenges, and working across different national cultures is no longer an option. To be effective in this increasingly global context, we need to re-think our view on leadership based on building effective future global leaders. Global leaders need to become advocates of reframing the leadership perspective regarding cross-cultural competence.

Leadership development curriculum and talent management initiatives need to address the challenges of working cross-culturally. To make lasting changes, development and training programs must include cross-cultural competence as a core competency for anyone assigned to global work teams. These programs should offer diverse methodologies and tools that can reach more people by building social and structural bridges. By creating forums for meaningful dialogues on cross-cultural differences, organizations could change from within as they grow to be more globally effective.

By encouraging cultural diversity and creating a “space” to enhance cross-cultural skills, we will attract a more diverse workforce that is equipped to handle new challenges on the horizon in doing so, we will embrace the best that diversity has to offer, learning from one another and growing our organizations to be truly global in an increasingly global workplace.

It is difficult to imagine any organization today operating without some element of global interaction. Companies are augmenting their service delivery model to be available to clients 24/7. Furthermore, global supply and value chains operate increasingly across borders. To that end, corporations are building geographically-distributed teams to enhance their capabilities to support their global growth. As a result, employees are increasingly working across multiple time zones and national cultures.

This workplace shift has led to fundamental changes in how work gets done. As teams become more global, they lose their shared assumptions and norms. Human interaction becomes significantly more complex. Because they do not work in the same physical space with some of their colleagues, employees need to learn new collaboration skills while developing a better understanding of cultural differences.

In this section, we will explore how global organizations can build capacity for cross-cultural competence while creating a “space” that fosters more effective human interactions. The framework and tools discussed will provide a better understanding of how to incorporate cross-cultural competence within leadership development and talent management practices.