We hear a lot about authenticity these days, largely in the context of being an authentic brand or an authentic leader. But it's just as important at an individual level, too. We should all be free to be our authentic selves at work, to bring our “whole selves” to work, so to speak, without fear of discrimination. For this to happen, however, we need workplaces that recognize and celebrate our many differences, cultural and otherwise. We need workplaces that truly reflect the diversity of our societies.

I had an early lesson in cultural diversity when, as a young man, I left my home in Germany and spent a year in England improving my grasp of English. On the surface, life in Germany and life in Britain aren't so different, but I was struck by so many contrasts. The food and drink. The humor. The British obsession with the weather. The fact that people patiently stand in line (and, jumping the line is not an option)! Later, I spent some time in Hong Kong, which, as you can imagine, was an even greater culture shock. Both experiences taught me that there are so many beautiful and fascinating ways in which our societies differ.

These days, I'm seeing organizations become much more representative of such differences. This is why I consider cultural intelligence and diversity consciousness to be a vital future skill.

What Are Cultural Intelligence and Diversity Consciousness?

Diversity simply refers to the many ways in which people can differ, including race, gender, culture, age, religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs, socioeconomic status, (dis)ability, and so on.

When we encounter things that make us different, conflicts and misunderstandings can easily arise. Eye contact is a great example. In my culture, making eye contact is a sign of respect and shows that I'm paying attention. But in other cultures, it can be a sign of aggression or even sexual interest, so to make sustained eye contact with someone while they're talking is considered rude or inappropriate. There's no point pretending that we're all the same or that differences don't matter. They matter a great deal, not least because it's the differences between us that spawn prejudice and discrimination. This means that part of creating a fairer world, and fairer organizations, entails being respectful of our differences, as opposed to glossing over them.

Why Do Cultural Intelligence and Diversity Consciousness Matter?

Our world is more connected than ever, which means that, every day, many of us encounter people who have different backgrounds and different life experiences than our own. I work with brands from all around the world, for example. But even if your business doesn't cross geographical boundaries, your colleagues and clients will almost certainly represent a diverse range of cultures, ages, ethnicities, economic statuses, and so on.

Collaboration across boundaries—whether geographical, cultural, political, or whatever—is essential if you want to succeed in the 21st-century workplace. It's essential if you want to be an effective team player, a strong communicator, a good leader, an emotionally intelligent colleague, and many of the other future skills that feature in this book. It may even affect your likelihood of securing a job (more on this coming up).

But what about the benefits to businesses? Of course there's a moral imperative to ensure organizations better reflect our increasingly diverse societies. And, let's be honest, diversity looks good for organizations. (Put it this way: can you see any business shouting about their lack of diversity?) But the benefits of diversity go way beyond the moral and marketing.

Diversity is good for business performance. There's a wealth of research to support this, such as a Boston Consulting Group study that found a significant correlation between diversity and innovation (companies with diverse management teams reported innovation revenue that was 19 percentage points higher than companies with below-average diversity).¹ Or there's the evidence that organizations with more women in corporate leadership positions are more profitable (a 30 percent female share of the C-suite translates into a 15 percent increase in profitability for the average firm).² What's more, this relationship between diversity and the likelihood of financial outperformance is getting stronger over time—and the greater the representation, the higher the likelihood of outperformance.³

Bottom line, organizations with diverse workforces and leadership are more likely to be successful. That's largely because diverse teams enjoy a broader range of perspectives and ideas than homogenous teams—and again, I'm not just talking about ethnic, cultural, and gender diversity, but also factors like age, political beliefs, and a myriad of other differences. Such diversity of talent allows businesses to be more innovative and adapt to increasingly diverse marketplaces—for example, a diverse workforce is better equipped to develop more inclusive products and services, and to better serve customers.

You get it—diversity is an asset. But it also presents challenges. As an example, according to one study, 90 percent of executives from 68 countries cited “cross-cultural” management as their biggest challenge in doing business across borders.⁴ This is precisely why organizations need people who are culturally intelligent and conscious of diversity.

Some employers are even considering assessing candidates for cultural intelligence as part of the recruitment process. The University of Oxford, for example, has proposed that candidates will have to demonstrate their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (for example, having called out a previous employer on diversity issues).⁵ It's just a proposal at the time of writing—a proposal that has attracted its fair share of criticism, including being dubbed a “woke score”—but it certainly shows that cultural intelligence is fast becoming a must-have skill.

And it's not just employers who will be assessing candidates based on their diversity consciousness; candidates increasingly want to work for diverse employers. This is especially true among younger members of the workforce (79 percent of recent graduates rank a diverse workforce as a “very important” feature of potential employers).⁶

How to Boost Your Cultural Intelligence

Having read this far in the chapter, you'll know that workplaces are becoming more diverse, and why this is a positive thing. That's already a big step towards increased awareness. But what about the more practical side of things—the ability to work with people from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and so on? The good news is that anyone can become more culturally intelligent.

Let's start with some tips for individuals, before looking at how organizations can boost cultural intelligence in the workforce.

Key Takeaways

To summarize the key points on diversity consciousness and cultural intelligence:

• Diversity simply refers to the many ways in which people can differ, including race, gender, culture, age, religion, political beliefs, (dis)ability, and so on.
• These days, I'm seeing organizations becoming much more representative of such differences, which means we all need to be more conscious of diversity and work to improve our cultural intelligence.
• Diversity consciousness is the recognition that workplaces (and societies) are becoming more diverse, and that this diversity is a good thing. Cultural intelligence (also known as cultural quotient, or CQ for short) refers to our ability to relate to others from different backgrounds and work effectively in diverse situations.
• These skills matter because our world is more connected than ever and all of us are increasingly required to collaborate across boundaries (whether cultural, political, economic, or whatever). Furthermore, diversity is good for business, translating into increased innovation and better financial performance.
• There are many ways to boost your cultural intelligence, including being more self-aware, immersing yourself in different cultures, consuming content from around the world, and more.

Treating people with respect and dignity, and being able to work well with people from all backgrounds is, for me, a fundamental part of living an ethical life, and running a successful business, for that matter. So let's dwell on the subject of ethics a little more, and learn why ethics is fast rising up the corporate agenda.