Cultural Awareness: Pourquoi Faire? (Why Bother?)
Emotional Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence… Let’s talk about Cultural Intelligence!
In a former life, I used to believe “Chez nous c’est comme ça qu’on fait, ils devraient le savoir depuis le temps !” (That’s how we do things here, they should know by now!) was a sign of confidence – standing firm in our methods and expecting others to adapt. Until I realized I wasn’t being agile – I was being rigid, and I was confusing cultural ignorance with cultural pride.
True agility comes from knowing you can adapt and still achieve your goals. The real question is not “How do we make them understand our way?” but rather “What do we want to achieve together, and what’s the most effective way to get there?”
C’est aux autres de s’adapter (It’s up to others to adapt) … Really?
If you’re still thinking that it’s up to others to adapt, then perhaps it’s about time to ask yourself what communicating effectively means, and more importantly: What result do you want to achieve at the end of your interaction? Because here’s the thing – cultural stubbornness has a terrible ROI!
Culture: It’s not just about flags and food
Culture isn’t just about which country you’re from or whether you prefer coffee or tea, cake or pastries. There are many elements that influence culture, such as generational differences, professional backgrounds, regional variations within the same country, to mention just a few. Even the difference between the finance team and the creative team is cultural.
This is why we created a program at PeopleSmart where our participants develop their cultural intelligence by learning and understanding what culture actually is. Then we help them incorporate this cultural understanding into their own workstyle, and how to translate it into actionable skills for their work environment.
Being culturally aware doesn’t just apply to international work – it applies within the same country, the same community, even the same office floor. That person who always seems “difficult” in meetings and plays the devil’s advocate? Maybe they’re not difficult – maybe you’re just culturally misaligned.
So, how culturally intelligent are you, and how do you navigate these cultural differences effectively?
The Bottom line
Cultural awareness is about becoming a cultural chameleon without losing your authenticity. It’s about being effective. It’s about getting the results you want while building relationships that last. It’s about moving beyond that old mindset of “That’s how we do things here, they should know by now!” and embracing true cultural intelligence.
Whilst everyone’s talking about EQ and AI, the smartest companies are investing in CQ – Cultural Intelligence.
Florence Meunier
September 2025
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If you want to know more about PeopleSmart and the services we offer reach out to us for a conversation: contact@peoplesmart.fr
