The most challenging aspect of globalism to collaboration is communication across different cultures. In RGLP, I learned that what is assumed to be proper and polite in one culture can be very different than how another culture assumes to be proper and polite. In an increasing integrated world, more than ever, this challenge is being presented around the world.
[more]Being adaptable is the essence of intercultural communication. To be adaptable, there are a variety of things to remember. For example, when meeting new people from a different culture, it is important to take into account some of the tools RGLP taught us. Communication, planning, knowledge and curiosity are the main tools RGLP has taught me this term. When communicating with anyone, a person must be adaptable in order to listen to the other person and react accordingly.
[more]It is so normalized today to meet someone new and immediately dissect their background, personality, and appearance to find how they are different from us. This silent dance of figuring out who a person is before getting to know them can actually make it harder to overcome those differences and eventually appreciate the vast diversity that exists within ourselves and our closest relationships. This term in RGLP, every person in our cohort brought different perspectives, background, and ideas to the table. Yet, we didn't immediately focus on these.
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On February 24th, HK gave a presentation on Practical Leadership. He emphasized that the three frameworks that a leader needs to possess are cognitive, emotional, and dispositional. The most important one is cognitive, as leaders need to use different thinking strategies and mental frameworks when leading. They need to be open-minded and be open to learning from others.
[more]On February 24th Hwikeun Kim gave his presentation on Practical Leadership. HK conveyed the importance of possessing cognitive, emotional, and dispositional flexibility in order to become a capable and respected leader. Cognitive flexibility focused on having different strategies and gameplans to solve a problem as a leader and emotional flexibility focuses on varying approaches based on the emotions of the leader and who the team is dealing with. More specifically, HK focused on having dispositional flexibility: the ability to confer with others on the team to create a cohesive solution.
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