Hyun, J. & Conant, D. (2019). 3 Ways to Improve Your Cultural Fluency. Harvard Business Review.
The authors lay out the connection between cultural fluency and financial performance. Cultural fluency involves humility and a willingness to learn about cultures different from your own. When American businesspeople work in leadership positions in China, they can disrespect
their colleagues by not honoring Chinese traditions and customs. Disrespect fosters a lack of trust and inhibits team cohesion from taking place.
Organizational leaders are creating multicultural teams spanning a variety of disciplines to accomplish team goals. The authors encourage listening, learning, and respecting cultural-specific values to develop cultural fluency. Ignorance is not bliss and can torpedo a team’s efforts in accomplishing goals. When team members possess the humility to deeply understand
other cultures, they can develop team cohesion and trust. A leader’s actions speak volumes when improving cultural fluency. When a leader walks the walk, her team members pay attention.
L2: Demonstrate the ability to assess complex organizational environments and achieve communicative goals.
L4: Apply communication-centered scholarship to strengthen communication effectiveness.
D1: Iteratively develop inter-professional leadership competencies.
D2: Utilize communication to embrace complexity and difference.
Keywords: cultural fluency, team cohesion, humility, multicultural teams, respect, goals, and leader
