Cultural Intelligence for Critical Reflection- myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Write an essay to critically reflect on how and why cultural self-awareness is important to develop cultural intelligence? Answer: Introduction Critical reflection essay of cultural self-awareness and its importance in developing cultural intelligence has become diverse and increasingly global. In a world where multicultural diversity of manpower is the boiling point in a space, it is crucial to comprehend cultural self-awareness in order to develop a cultural intelligence for excellent communication and better organizational standards (Clark, 2011). The awareness of diversity in the international context is significant today than it was in the past because of many factors some of which include diversification, globalization, growth, organizational culture and other processes. The subject about why self-awareness has become to developing cultural intelligence has been necessitated by increasing changes in todays work situations. The essay will critically reflect on how and why cultural self-awareness is important to developing cultural intelligence in the context of business. In this diverse world, all people that we meet possess their own culture different from our own. Self-cultural awareness provides people with strong foundations through which communication that entail understanding ones beliefs, perceptions and values is enhanced (Hampton, 2010). For example, during my internship period at Woolworths, an Australian based Retail Company; I had a chance to interact with colleagues of different cultural backgrounds. We all have different first languages something which made me learn many new languages. However, the management established a uniform communication language in which we all conformed to. I observed that my colleagues shown a great sense of direction by adjusting to the set organizational culture that different from their own cultures. In this context, cultural awareness helped in making people understand each others cultures and behavior something which showed a great deal of cultural intelligence. Self-cultural awareness has increasingly become important in building cultural intelligence in a work setting. Cultural intelligence in itself is a significant term for management, training, learning, and running of business operations (Lay McGuire, 2010). For instance, my tenure at Woolworths made me observe how the management has shown a great deal in the training and development of interns and other employees. My colleagues showed critical capabilities of working in a cross-cultural environment in an effective manner and a huge capacity to relate to people from other cultures (Macdonald, 2011). The advanced self-cultural awareness by colleagues promoted cultural intelligence in the company. The management measured interns intercultural performance to assist them in enhancing cultural intelligence for the future generations within the company using performance appraisals. As a result, there was increased understanding, productivity, work integration, and operational efficiencies h ence improved workforce productivity (Writing the sociology paper, 2005). When a person is aware of cultural diversity and how it works, cultural intelligence is promoted. An individuals ability to adopt in a culture diverse environment depends with his or her cultural awareness like knowledge of religious beliefs, social norms, and behavior, legal systems, social linguistic and economic factors so as to advance his or her interaction with other people in diverse environments (Ryan, 2011). In my stay at Woolworths, I observed how the manager encouraged us to interact with each other so as to understand our differences in cultural backgrounds. The manager advocated for both verbal and non-verbal communication ways through cross-culture intelligence was used in the execution of effective communication strategies in its diverse work environment. Cultural self-awareness helped in building the companys strategies of cultural intelligence and confronting any culture-related issues. I learned that by making judgments about an individual's thought process so that of others, through self-cultural awareness they can develop the cultural intelligence and strategize the accent, words, tones, and greetings within the workplace (Taylor, 2001). In action, cultural intelligence entails one's ability to adjust his behavior in a cross-cultural environment given their awareness thus able to choose the right communication strategy likewise. All people need to have self-cultural awareness in order to develop cultural intelligence capabilities effectively. Cultural self-awareness involves ones act of getting aware of his or her cultural identity. Cultural self-awareness helps people understand their strengths, weaknesses, biases, fears, motivations, and goals (Taipale, 2012). My experience at Woolworths made me understand the importance of being aware of my culture and its significance for a cross-cultural interaction. I understood that interaction with people helps in building the values and beliefs that I form on other cultures, and this helps in developing my cultural intelligence. For example, if people see how Hip Hop music is important; mostly it is associated with all young people. This has helped them in building their cultural intelligence as they strive to interact with their colleagues. Therefore, once people understand the value of different cultures; this then enhances their cultural intelligence hence able t o interact with diverse culture people. When people possess the sense of cultural intelligence, their intercultural self-awareness grows. In my experience with the diverse workforce at Woolworths, I learned that people react differently to different groups of cultures for they have different tastes, views, and perceptions on the subject (Spencer-Oatey, 2012). Understanding behavioral differences of people help an organization realize its core objectives. Different people have different aspirations with respect to their perspective of satisfaction. In this perspective, the arrangement of organizational goals and objectives on cross-cultural reference enables companies to enhance management quiet suitably. The actual understanding of self-cultural awareness and diversities broadly help companies in obtaining cultural intelligence required in bridging communication gaps that exist within its operations in a more suitable way. I noticed that the adoption of proper cultural intelligence enables people to handle new opportunitie s in the world with ease. In conclusion, the world has been made a village as people from different backgrounds continue to interact. In Australia itself, multiculturalism has taken the seat in all sectors. In such vibrant environments, communication has turned out to be multi-cultural due to the advanced multi-cultural awareness generations that run the world today. Self-cultural awareness has elevated cultural intelligence into place. The awareness of cultural values and the obtainment of proper cultural intelligence is the key to developing the world today. The self or others cultural awareness is the subject for studies and research since many people wish to develop cultural intelligence and competence for future business trends. References Clark, D.R. (2011). Learning through reflection. Retrieved from https://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/development/reflection.html Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods, Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford Polytechnic. London: Further Education Unit. ISBN 1-85338-071-7. Hampton, M. (2010). Reflective writing: A basic introduction. Retrieved from https://www.port.ac.uk/departments/studentsupport/ask/resources/handouts/writtenassignments/filetodownload,73259,en.pdf Lay, S., McGuire, L. (2010). Building a lens for critical reflection and reflexivity in social work education. Social Work Education 29(5), 539-550. Macdonald, L. (2011). Critical reflective writing in social work Dalhousie University. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/dalwritingcentre/critical-reflective-writing Reflective Writing. (2008). Retrieved from https://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/reflect.html Ryan, M. (2011). Improving reflective writing in higher education: A social semioticperspective. Teaching in Higher Education 16(1), 99-111. Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts, 1-22. Taipale, S. (2012). Mobility of Cultures and Knowledge Management in Contemporary Europe.European Review, 20, pp 173-181 doi:10.1017/S1062798711000445 Taylor, E. (2001). Transformative learning theory: A neurobiological perspective of the role ofemotions and unconscious ways of knowing. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 20(3), 218-236. Writing the sociology paper. (2005). Retrieved from https://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/soc_sciences/sociology.shtml