CQ

What is Cultural Intelligence (CQ)? 

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is the capability to work and relate effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds – whether that’s nationality, language, discipline, or organisational culture. 

It doesn’t mean “being well-travelled”. CQ is about how you notice differences, how you make sense of them, and how you adapt your behaviour while still staying true to yourself. It’s the skill of holding different perspectives at the same time and reconciling them enough to move forward together. 

Diversity is often described as a driver of innovation. But diversity on its own is not enough. 

Without CQ, differences can easily turn into friction, misunderstanding, or exclusion. 

With CQ, diverse teams are much better able to turn those differences into creativity, better decisions, and sustainable collaboration. 

EQ vs. CQ—what's the difference? 

• Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is about understanding and managing emotions in yourself and others.

• Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is about doing that when cultural norms and expectations differ – when “normal” doesn’t mean the same thing for everyone in the room.
  
  

Who is CQ for? 

For teams and individuals who want to work more effectively across cultures and build trust & safety within their teams.  

As a CQ® Certified Facilitator, I use Cultural Intelligence (CQ) assessments and coaching to help you:

• Understand your current CQ strengths and development areas,

• Create concrete development plans for specific capabilities (e.g., working across cultures, adapting communication, leading diverse teams),

• Build practices that strengthen trust, psychological safety, and collaboration in multicultural or distributed teams.
  
  

What This Looks like

CQ assessments and coaching can help individuals and teams build the capabilities they need to work effectively across cultures, not just coexist.

• Individual CQ assessment and 1:1 debrief,

• Team CQ profiles and guided reflection sessions,

• Ongoing coaching to translate insights into everyday behaviours and team norms.

Format: online or on-site · assessment + debrief and optional follow-up coaching or team sessions. To learn more, please email.