Emotionally Intelligent, Culturally Lost? Here’s What You’re Missing. ✨
Emotional intelligence gets a lot of attention these days – and for good reason. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to understand and manage your emotions, as well as recognize and influence the emotions of those around you. The term was coined by John Mayer and Peter Salovey in 1990, and today it's considered one of the top soft skills employers look for. Many organizations will spend money on developing EQ in their staff. Emotional intelligence predicts better communication, collaboration, self-regulation and self-awareness.
Cultural intelligence doesn’t get the same attention, but it’s just as essential as EQ. Cultural intelligence (CQ) is the capability to function and relate effectively in culturally diverse situations. It enables individuals and organizations to be successful in today’s multicultural, globalized world. CQ research was pioneered by Soon Ang and Linn Van Dyne. CQ predicts better communication, increased innovation, and improved teamwork, especially within a multicultural team.
CQ and EQ Are Distinct but Complementary
Having emotional intelligence without cultural intelligence can be limiting. You will be attuned to your own emotions, but you will lack the ability to pick up on emotions from people from other cultural backgrounds. It will be like your emotion sensor is broken. It may seem unfair that the skills you’ve developed in one cultural context don’t transfer to another, but that’s reality. Cultures process and deal with emotions in very, very different ways. I strongly recommend the book Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions by Batja Mequita if you want to learn more about how cultures create emotions.
High EQ Alone Isn't Enough in Cross-Cultural Contexts
In the powerful interplay between EQ and CQ, you are looking at both cultural behaviors, like the degree to which a person identifies as an individual or as part of a collective, and the emotional cues that relate to that behavior. For example, you’re talking with a friend who is upset because their brother made a decision that went against the parents’ wishes. From your perspective, it’s a personal decision for the brother and you might advise your friend to let the brother choose. You might make a judgement (perhaps unconsciously) that your friend is overreacting over the situation. You may make negative stereotypes about your friend’s emotional stability and their desire to control a family member that deserves personal freedom. You may feel superior for being on the side of the poor brother who appears to be the victim of meddling family members. But if you understand collectivist cultural values, you will have an entirely different perspective. In your friend’s culture, the brother’s choice didn’t just affect them—it disrupted the harmony of the entire family unit. Loyalty and cohesion are paramount, and disregarding those values is seen as selfish. In this situation where you have EQ but lack CQ, you risk damaging your friends’ trust, and your friend may choose to be more distant in the future. Your EQ remained intact, but it didn’t translate accurately without cultural understanding.
The Best Global Leaders Develop Both
When you step into a different cultural environment, your EQ still matters—but it needs CQ to guide your interpretation. Leaders with strong emotional intelligence can still misinterpret culturally influenced behaviors. CQ helps decode why someone acts the way they do, especially when it’s rooted in cultural norms, not personality. And yes, it’s complicated when you’re dealing with emotions, personality and culture. Don’t ignore the importance of both EQ and CQ.
Inspired by this article:
Rockstuhl, Thomas, et al. “Beyond General Intelligence (IQ) and Emotional Intelligence (EQ): The Role of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) on Cross-Border Leadership Effectiveness in a Globalized World.” Journal of Social Issues, vol. 67, no. 4, 2011, pp. 825–40, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2011.01730.x.