Exploring your Cultural Values, part 1

What happens when you find yourself in a situation where a team member is being ‘difficult’?

What happens when people say things in meetings which leave you frustrated and wound up, because they’re acting ‘unprofessionally’?

Do you roll your eyes, moan to your colleagues and blame it on ‘them being them’?

It can be so easy to divide into ‘them’ and ‘us’ within a team, or with customers and partners, especially when what they say and do is out of line with your expectations.

But do you really understand their motivations and drivers, and how culture is shaping their communication and behaviour?

When you don’t, this can lead to misunderstanding and miscommunication, impacting projects, performance, results and team spirit.

This is why we need cultural intelligence. It’s the choice to pause and consider alternative explanations, not just react to what’s happening.

Part of cultural intelligence is understanding your cultural values, which are your preferences for how you work, live, and interact.

This is part of the work I do with my clients, so they can understand their own individual or team cultural values profile to identify what is driving the gaps and challenges.

In this 2 part podcast series I will be explaining the 10 cultural values. Today, we are focusing on part 1 – the first 5 sets of cultural values.