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Developing Cultural Intelligence for Leadership

Find out what Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is, and why good leaders and managers need it, in this free online course.

34,981 enrolled on this course

Cultural Intelligence - a group of people from different cultures come together
  • Duration

    4 weeks
  • Weekly study

    4 hours

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is the natural evolution from the well-established notions of IQ (intelligence quotient) and EQ (emotional intelligence). Good leaders need all three to lead effectively.

CQ is the ability to cross divides - whether country, generation, gender, sector or background - and to thrive in multiple cultures. Developing your CQ will enable you to work with people who are different from you, and lead in your organisation, community, business or place of study.

Understand and develop Cultural Intelligence

This free online course will introduce you to the concept of CQ and explore its evolution and relevance for leadership.

Through a series of activities, exercises and advice from leaders around the world, you will:

  • build the skills to lead across divides and thrive in multiple cultures;
  • go on a journey to uncover the cultural influences that make you think and act the way you do;
  • see how understanding yourself can help you work with other people;
  • learn skills to recognise what makes others tick and behave the way they do;
  • and embrace diversity and recognise its role in innovative problem solving.

In discussions with other learners from around the world, you’ll grow your network and build relationships which will, in turn, help you develop your CQ.

Learn with Common Purpose - experts in CQ

Common Purpose has been running leadership development programmes for over 25 years. This course builds this experience and expertise into an accessible, personal and professional development course.

Your guide will be Common Purpose’s Founder and Chief Executive, Julia Middleton. She is a well-respected thought leader in the field of leadership and author of Cultural Intelligence - CQ: The Competitive Edge for Leaders Crossing Borders. This book explores the subject and details her own journey to develop CQ.

You can find out more about this course in Julia’s post for the FutureLearn blog: “6 reasons why modern leaders need Cultural Intelligence.”

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Skip to 0 minutes and 7 seconds Leaders have always needed intelligence. IQ helps you to handle facts and analyse problems, but it doesn’t help you to manage people. So then came Emotional Intelligence. EQ helps you to understand people, but often, only people who are like you. In the modern world, successful leaders also need to work with people who are not like them; people from different backgrounds, sectors, geographies, and generations. Modern leaders need Cultural Intelligence, CQ.

Skip to 0 minutes and 52 seconds Common Purpose has drawn on over 25 years of experience to develop this free online course. Over four weeks, on an interactive platform, you’ll learn with people from all over the world. You’ll hear personal stories from leaders who’ve developed their own Cultural Intelligence, which has helped them get where they are today. If you have CQ as a leader, you can get a lot more fresh ideas from your teams. If you want to have an impact in the world around you, you need CQ. This course is essential for anyone who wants to be successful in the work place today. Discover a modern leadership skill. Developing Cultural Intelligence for Leadership. Join now.

What topics will you cover?

  • Modern leadership
  • Working across boundaries
  • Working with difference
  • Influence and decision making
  • Core and Flex
  • Unconscious and conscious bias
  • Barriers to Cultural Intelligence
  • Cultural intolerance

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Develop the skills to lead across divides and thrive in multiple cultures
  • Identify the cultural influences that make you think and act the way you do
  • Explore how understanding yourself can help you work with other people
  • Develop skills to recognise what makes others tick and behave the way they do
  • Evaluate diversity and recognise its role in innovative problem solving

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for anyone who holds - or aspires to hold - a leadership or management role anywhere in the world. No previous experience of Cultural Intelligence is needed. A willingness to work more effectively within a diverse community or workplace is all that’s required.

Who will you learn with?

Founder and Chief Executive, Common Purpose Charitable Trust;
Author of Cultural Intelligence - CQ: the Competitive Edge for Leaders Crossing Borders;
Full bio @ http://bit.ly/1E5Vp16

Who developed the course?

Common Purpose

Common Purpose runs leadership development programmes that enable people from different backgrounds, sectors, geographies and generations to work together to solve common problems..

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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