Upon signing up for study abroad, we were enlisted in taking a Cultural intelligence (CQ) test to find out different things about ourselves. We got results based on all sorts of different factors, but the main four are pictured below:
Doing this alone gave me a far better understanding of myself, but little did I know, there was still much to learn. While CQ Knowledge, Strategy, and Action are all relatively low, I’m lucky to have CQ drive be the highest score of the four. An author and leading authority on cultural intelligence, David Livermore, identifies drive as the most important factor for becoming a more ‘universal’ global leader, because without motivation to grow, there’s no chance one will. So, it’s easy to see HUGE potential growth over the next thirty days.
A subdimension of CQ Drive is self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is defined as: Having the confidence to be effective in culturally diverse situations. And this is the trait I constantly identified with throughout my travels in Italy. It’s funny even now to think back on the trepidation I had when being confronted with the task of international flight planning. I had never even flown before, and although I was unsure about how to tackle the challenge, the confidence I had in myself was a constant driver. As we planned day and weekend trips in Italy, my friends and I coordinated rooms to stay, travel by various means (train, taxi, and ferry), and sights to see, I could feel my confidence grow and grow. By the end of this trip, I feel confident in my ability to travel to new places and be able to translate my needs into effective action. Now, having greater belief in myself, I recognize the importance of remaining humble and accepting the fact that I will make mistakes, but the constant belief in myself is crucial to ultimate success, no matter the drawbacks.
A picture I included is from a trip to Rome and Salerno my friends and I planned.
