Cultivating Cultural Competency
Cultural competence is the ability to effectively understand, appreciate, and interact with individuals from cultures different from our own across all settings. It involves having the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to build genuine relationships with people from diverse backgrounds. This competence is demonstrated through forming connections with those outside your dominant cultural group, exploring new cultural experiences, fostering diverse membership in teams, and promoting cross-cultural understanding.
For Supervisors, developing cultural competence helps in recognizing and overcoming unconscious biases while opening up to different cultural perspectives. Achieving cultural competence takes time and patience, but with a genuine willingness to embrace and engage with cultures other than our own, we can grow both personally and as effective leaders at Areté.
“Diversity is a fact, but inclusion is a choice we make every day. As leaders, we have to put out the message that we embrace and not just tolerate diversity.”
Self-Assessment:
Cultivating Cultural Competency
Please take a few moments to contemplate the following self-reflection questions. Where can you identify opportunities for personal growth in your leadership approach?
1. How familiar am I with the cultural backgrounds and identities of my team members?
2. Do I recognize and respect the cultural differences that exist within my team?
3. How often do I reflect on my own cultural biases and assumptions?
4. How effectively do I use active listening to understand the viewpoints of team members from diverse backgrounds?
5. Am I aware of non-verbal communication cues that may vary across cultures?
6. How do I ensure that all team members feel included and valued, regardless of their background and life experiences?
7. What strategies do I use to promote an inclusive environment where diverse ideas and perspectives are encouraged?
8. How do I model inclusive behavior for my team?
Remember, this self-assessment is just a starting point for understanding your knowledge of cultural competency as a leader. It's essential to reflect on your responses and actively work on areas where improvement is needed. Additionally, seeking feedback from others and working with your ECFL Leadership Coach can provide valuable insights into your emotional intelligence strengths and weaknesses.
Our journey toward becoming more culturally competent begins with self-reflection, understanding our beliefs, and recognizing any biases we may hold. In previous discussions, we have explored emotional intelligence (EQ). In this session on cultural competence, we will briefly examine the first phase of EQ: self-awareness. Daniel Goleman defines self-awareness as knowing one's internal states, preferences, resources, and intuitions. Self-awareness includes having personal emotional knowledge, which encompasses understanding what triggers our emotions. It involves having an accurate self-assessment of emotions and possessing self-confidence. Maintaining strong self-awareness allows us to build stronger relationships, communicate more effectively, and better understand how our actions, attitudes, and behaviors impact others, both negatively and positively. Being self-aware is our starting point for understanding bias and knowing what it looks like so we can identify it in ourselves and others we lead.
“The human heart is too grand to be wasted in the gutter of cultural exclusivity.”
What is Bias?
Bias is prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair. There are two main types of bias that individuals or groups of people may exhibit: implicit and explicit bias.
Implicit bias is an unconscious bias that develops from birth. We are often unaware of its presence until our self-awareness (EQ) drives us to confront it. Unconscious biases are frequently directed toward minority groups and can be based on factors such as class, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, nationality, religious beliefs, age, and disability. Many researchers believe that unconscious bias occurs automatically as the brain makes quick judgments based on past experiences and background.
The second type of bias, and more divisive, is explicit or conscious bias. This form of bias develops throughout life and must be actively addressed to prevent it from stunting our professional growth and personal development. If we can’t learn to manage it, then we’ll never be able to truly create deeper relationships and show respect to others.
As humans, we all have room to grow; no one is perfect and no one has completely removed bias from their lives. With time, intentionality, and self-awareness, you can eliminate biases preventing you from being a leader with influence and making a difference in others' lives. Strengthening our self-awareness muscle is the foundation for expanding equity and acceptance in any organization.
Bias can also be understood as holding false assumptions. These are beliefs about another person that are based on our historical perspectives, personal perceptions, and backgrounds, rather than on true knowledge about that individual.
In his book The Four Agreements, author Don Miguel Ruiz cautions against the dangers of assumptions: “The problem with making assumptions is that we believe they are the truth! We invent a whole story that’s only true for us, but we believe it. One assumption leads to another assumption; we jump to conclusions, and we take our story very personally. We make assumptions, we believe we are right about our assumptions, and then we defend our assumptions. In organizations, making false assumptions happen more than we want to admit.”
Consider these interactions:
A manager assumes that a new employee with an accent doesn't understand complex instructions well and assigns them only simple tasks.
False Assumption: The employee's accent is equated with a lack of comprehension or skill.
A team member sees another employee leaving early and assumes they are not dedicated to their work, without knowing that the employee has already completed their tasks and has permission to leave.
False Assumption: Leaving early indicates a lack of commitment.
An older employee is passed over for a tech-related project because it's assumed that they are not tech-savvy, without checking their actual skills.
False Assumption: Age correlates with technological incompetence.
During a brainstorming session, a manager assumes that a quiet team member has no ideas to contribute, overlooking the fact that the person may simply prefer to share thoughts after reflecting.
False Assumption: Silence means a lack of ideas or engagement.
These examples illustrate how making false assumptions based on personal truths can occur.
It is important to recognize that making false assumptions based on our personal truths is the number one cause of breakdowns in communication. In our interactions with others, we often operate from a place that is heavily influenced by our own experiences. Our expectations differ because of our unique beliefs, opinions, and assumptions, all of which are shaped by our individual experiences.
Once we understand that our personal truths, how we judge the world, and what we believe to be right and wrong are based on the unique and individual experiences we have, we can no longer believe that our answer is the only right answer.
Assumption + Rush to Judgement = Creating Our Own Story Without Facts
Here is something to try:
The next time you catch yourself making assumptions about someone, pay attention to how the assumption forms in your mind and whether it's followed by a judgment. This isn’t the kind of judgment that involves wisdom or discernment; rather, it’s about jumping to conclusions without any supporting information. If this happens, you are likely making an inaccurate assumption. Don’t worry—it’s a common human behavior. It’s also a practice that can be overcome with time and intentionality.
In the book, Inclusion on Purpose, Ruchika Tulshyan outlines six ways to make personal progress toward cultivating an inclusion mindset to help neutralize bias and foster environments that are diverse, equitable, and inclusive. She reminds us that inclusion doesn’t just happen; we have to work on it.
Embrace Discomfort: Push back feelings of uncertainty, fear, discomfort, and frustration. Stepping out of your comfort zone is important for growth.
Reflect on the Unknown: Consider what perspectives you might be missing. What do you need to learn more about?
Invite Feedback: Seek feedback on how you may have perpetuated bias or where your team or school may not be inclusive (note: this is a hard thing to do).
Limit Defensiveness: Just because it’s not your experience doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Learn from Mistakes: A willingness to keep learning from errors is linked to having an inclusion mindset.
Change Takes Time: Recognize that meaning change requires time, intention, and listening.
“The most important thing you can do in this world is to spend time with people who are not like yourself.”
Elevate your understanding of cultural competency by taking flight with the following resources. Use this opportunity to navigate, uncover, and expand the horizons of your leadership influence.
Inclusion on Purpose
Ruchika Tulshyan (43:02)
Is Your Team Culturally Competent?
Why Everyone Wins with Intersectional Leadership
Ellie Thompson
What is Cultural Competence?(4:20)
Are You Aware of Your Biases?
Harvard Business Review