Cross Cultural Coaching Competency

Our attitudes, values, beliefs, worldview, and assumptions are deeply engrained and significantly impacted by culture. In many cases we react to others (i.e. colleagues, acquaintances, friends, etc.), based on our cultural norms. For instance, one might assume that an acquaintance lacks independence because he or she frequently relies on family input to make important decisions about his or her life. This assumption comes from a place of judgment in which one person’s values are viewed as superior to another. To be effective, Executive Coaches must understand the relationship between culture, attitudes, values, beliefs, etc. In understanding these relationships, Executive Coaches can minimize the possibility of misunderstanding or misguiding a client.

After completing the assigned reading, address the following questions: What cross cultural competencies would you say are essential to effective coaching? Why? What is the connection between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and effective cross-cultural coaching? Is there risk involved in working from the premise that all people are the same?