Quality Management Journal

ISSN: 1068-6967 (Print) 2575-6222 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uqmj20

Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The New Secret

to Success

James Kohnen

To cite this article: James Kohnen (2012) Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The New Secret to
Success, Quality Management Journal, 19:3, 70-71, DOI: 10.1080/10686967.2012.11918076

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10686967.2012.11918076

Published online: 21 Nov 2017.

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Reviews
leadership. This is the inescap- Difference,” they work on the is earned rather than bestowed by
able conclusion we have come notion of the positive influence some higher-up. Perhaps in the
to after more than 30 years of credible leaders have on people next edition, and after another 10
research into the dynamics of and organizations and the nega- years of research and reflection,
the relationship between leaders tive impact low-credibility leaders Kouzes and Posner will get beyond
and constituents. People have to have on morale and performance. a one-word explanation of leader-
believe in their leaders before they Here Kouzes and Posner show that ship. For now their current work
will willingly follow them. That’s building and sustaining credibility provides an excellent founda-
why we first wrote Credibility: requires six disciplines that they tion upon which to build a fuller
How Leaders Gain and Lose It, expand on in the remaining chap- understanding of this essential
Why People Demand It 20 years ters of their book: discover yourself, part of all organizations.
ago, and it’s why we have taken appreciate constituents, affirm Reviewed by
the time to thoroughly update shared values, develop capacity, James Kohnen
and revise it.” (p. xi) The second serve a purpose, and sustain hope. Dublin, CA
edition certainly provides ample The last of the disciplines —
information in its nine chapters to hope — is especially poignant. Leading with Cultural
substantiate this assentation. Each Kouzes and Posner maintain that Intelligence: The New Secret
one approaches the topic from to keep hope alive, credible leaders to Success. 2009. David
a slightly different perspective, encourage an optimistic attitude Livermore. New York: AMACOM.
advocating the restoration of trust that enables their followers to hold 220 pages.
and confidence in the credibility a positive attitude encompassing Cultural intelligence is
of management and the people the possibilities of future success. described as the ability to be
who practice it. Hope seems to embody the essence effective across various cultural
The research used to support of the preceding disciplines — contexts, including national,
these claims is laced thoughout along with trust—that contribute ethnic, organizational, genera-
the book, with additional mate- to leadership credibility. tional, ideological, and more. The
rial that can be found at www. In the final chapter, “The
research reveals four capabilities
leadershipchallenge.com/go/ Struggle to Be Human,” some
that consistently emerge among
credibility. Kouzes and Posner are excesses of leadership and of
individuals who are effective in
very prolific writers, resulting in expectation are highlighted,
culturally diverse situations:
many of their own citations, as along with antidotes for dealing
1. CQ drive (motivational CQ):
well as others, that support their with these tensions. For example,
They possess a high level of
case being included in the notes in the case of hope, an excess
is shown to lead to dependence, interest, drive, and motivation
provided for each chapter at the
with the recommended antidote to adapt cross-culturally.
end of the book.
The chapters provide anecdotes, being action. 2. CQ knowledge (cognitive CQ):
survey data, and commentary The revised edition, replete with They have a strong under-
about what leaders need to do its new material, copes well with standing of how cultures are
to develop trust, which leads to the decade of change organizations similar and different.
credibility. Chapter 2 introduces have and are experiencing. While 3. CQ strategy (metacognitive
the topics to be discussed in the it presents a solid case for cred- CQ): They are aware and able
remaining chapters of the book. ibility, as the original book did, it to plan in light of their cul-
Entitled “Credibility Makes a strives to explain that leadership tural understanding.

70 QMJ VOL. 19, no. 3/© 2012, ASQ

4. CQ action (behavioral CQ): anthropological study of the cul- Streamlined Process
They know when to adapt ture, according to Livermore. It Improvement: The Break-
and when not to adapt when does mean that a serious attempt through Strategy to Reduce
engaging cross-culturally. be made to become familiar with Costs, Improve Quality,
This model was derived from the cultural differences that might Increase Customer Satisfaction
the work of the author, Soon Ang, be encountered and develop a and Boost Profits. 2011. H. James
Ph.D., at Nanyang Technological strategy to deal with them before Harrington. New York: McGraw-Hill.
University in Singapore, and Linn they become an insurmountable 432 pages.
Van Dyne, Ph.D., at Michigan issue. Improved cultural intelli- H. James Harrington is a pro-
State University. Practical and gence is a learned behavior based lific informational author who is
insightful, this indispensable on an intrinsic individual desire enamored with his activities in sup-
model shows leaders how to to interact with others having a port of the quality movement. After
act across any cultural divide, different cultural upbringing. 45 years of improving processes for
including national, ethnic, and Livermore does a creditable IBM and Ernst & Young, he con-
organizational cultures. job of encouraging the reader tinues to promote his gregarious
Livermore painstakingly artic- to explore, learn, and practice self through his writings. While
ulates how to navigate through the behaviors found in his four not listed as a co-author, he does
these four elements to strengthen cross-culture capabilities—drive, acknowledge Candy Rogers: “who
one’s cultural intelligence. This knowledge, strategy, and action— converted and edited endless hours
can be to better relate to others’ although calling them “The New of dictation ... to turn out the fin-
cultural differences in one’s local Secret to Success” might be an ished product.” The result is a book
business circles both in and out of overstatement. Learning to be in which he talks directly to the
the office; in a wider circle includ- flexible, tolerant of others’ beliefs reader, presenting an informative,
ing visits to different cultures in and behavior, and action ori- but sometimes rambling, view of
South America, Asia, and Europe; ented is hardly a new or secret his interpretation and summary of
or to become an expatriate living approach to being successful. And what others have contributed to his
and working full time in South while he purports that his claims overarching notion of streamlined
America, Asia, and Europe. are research based, many of his process improvement.
The point is to enrich one’s examples are anecdotal. Some It will quickly become appar-
experience in each of the areas attempt is made to link the results ent that Harrington has never run
identified and put that work to of personality inventory instru- across a bulleted list that he has
practical use in coping with the ments and the four cross-culture not saved for incorporation in his
everyday situations encountered capabilities, but the relationship is next book. These lists are ubiqui-
in normal interactions with oth- not firmly established in the book. tously distributed throughout the
ers having different backgrounds, Livermore does include 11 pages text and do not add value. Another
experiences, and cultures than of annotated notes for each chap- literary convention he liberally
one’s own. ter. It is not surprising that a great uses involves inserting his own,
Heightening one’s aware- many of them were composed, all guru-like italicized quotes that do
ness of another’s culture does or in part, by Soon Ang and/or not add value to the material he
not necessarily mean learning Linn Van Dyne. dictated to Rogers.
a second language, studying the He weaves his notion of stream-
Reviewed by
history or political development James Kohnen
lined process improvement (spun
of a country, or getting into an Dublin, CA into five phases in four chapters):

www.asq.org 71