64. How to Increase Your Cultural Intelligence (CQ)

What is cultural intelligence (CQ) and how can it help you work more effectively across cultures? Learn how to develop your cultural intelligence and why it is important to do it. Read more here: https://blog.talaera.com/cultural-intelligence

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Transcript

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Paola Pascual  0:03  
Welcome to Talaera talks, the business English communication podcast for non native professionals. My name is Paola and I am co hosting the show with Simon.

Simon Kennell  0:11  
In this podcast, we're going to be covering communication advice and tips to help express yourself with confidence in English in professional settings. So we hope you enjoy the show.

Simon Kennell  0:24  
All right, welcome back, everyone to another episode of telera talks. Wherever you are, I hope you having a great day you are joined as always by Simon and Paola. Paola, how are you doing today?

Paola Pascual  0:38  
Hi, Simon. Doing great preparing some exciting things coming up.

Simon Kennell  0:45  
Yeah, you gotta like we all have a ton of exciting things going on right now. And we're all super busy. But yeah, I mean, the big thing is what we're actually going to meet each other really soon for the first time.

Paola Pascual  0:58  
In person. Can you believe it?

Simon Kennell  1:01  
I don't know. It's like, a weird thing. I can't even I can't like what are you going to be taller than me? Or like, what? I don't even know how that's gonna be. It's gonna be like a really weird, but awesome thing. I hope.

Paola Pascual  1:16  
It is for sure. I love how we're all like, are they taller than me? How, how tall? Are they? How short? That's gonna be fun. That's gonna be fun. We will see, we will see, but it's going to be very exciting.

Simon Kennell  1:28  
Yeah, yeah. And for those of you listening, you know, obviously, you know, we've been doing this podcast now for more than a year, and a year and a half. And, and yeah, we're going to meet for the first time, and we're going to record a podcast in person. That is our goal is to record a podcast together. And we don't really have the topic set up yet. But yeah, you're gonna, you're gonna see that, and hopefully, it will be a live podcast video and everything like that. So yeah, it's gonna be very exciting. Yeah, yeah.

Paola Pascual  2:06  
It is going to be super exciting. And you were talking about all the exciting things that have been happening, that will happen soon. And I think one of the one of my favorite projects, this month has been the webinar that we hosted together, on working across cultures, the feedback that we got was awesome. It was so much fun for us, because people were engaging in the chat. And we thought that it was worth recording an episode on one of the sections from that webinar. And that is, you know, again, the topic was working across cultures. So there were a lot of cross cultural communication, cultural intelligence, cultural awareness. And that is that is a bit what we're going to talk about today.

Simon Kennell  2:48  
Yeah. And so we hear this kind of all the time people are asking for, they're asking for a lot of stuff around cross cultural communication and cultural intelligence, right? And they always bring that up is, you know, what do we do? What are the actionable things that I can do? So that when I go into a cross cultural team, I feel, you know, I feel ready, I feel comfortable, I feel like myself, but I can also navigate that. And that's what we're really going to talk about today. And yeah, using some of these tips that we use in our webinars and some of these examples, but let's kind of jump right into it on what is cultural intelligence?

Paola Pascual  3:36  
Yeah, so let's start with with the definition, and also actually a little overview of what we're going to do today, and why we're even choosing this topic of cultural intelligence. Right? So the reason I think, and correct me if you think differently, Simon, the reason for me this topic is so important, is because when we work with people from other cultures, it's very, very difficult to have all the answers all the time, it's very difficult to know about all the cultures and, and the communication styles and the working styles and collaborating collaboration styles. And so cultural intelligence is what's going to help us bridge that gap. And as you were saying before, like feel like yourself in different situations.

Simon Kennell  4:21  
Yeah. Yeah. And that's a that's a tough one, right? Because it's, it's something where we have to feel a little bit out of our comfort zone, which is always a challenge. And when you're in a place or when you're in a situation where maybe you are the minority or you're not the one, that it's not in your native language, it's not in your home country. There's always that like, kind of uncomfortable, you know, feeling right.

Paola Pascual  4:52  
Absolutely. But that's also part of the definition of cultural intelligence, right? Is that being able to do Yes, recognize and adapt to cultural differences, but also being okay in unfamiliar contexts or being okay, not having all the answers being okay with ambiguity. So yeah, having a high cultural intelligence or CQ, is really going to help you thrive in those multicultural environments.

Simon Kennell  5:23  
Right? And that's kind of always the, the term that I like to use is tolerance for ambiguity, right? Like, how much can you tolerate being in a situation where it's just kind of like, okay, I'm not really sure what that meant. I'm just gonna go with it. Right, that kind of feeling of, let's just go with it. Right. And that's something that if it's your first time being in that type of situation, it's really uncomfortable, especially when there's a lot on the line, if it's in a business context, or something like that. So it's about yeah, getting comfortable, not being totally sure. Right. And that's, yeah, that's a that's a challenge. But when we, you know, just like with any problem, we try to break it down, right? Like, how can we break this down into different components capabilities to do this? And there are four kind of basic capabilities, CQ capabilities that are like, from the original? Yeah, the original people who coined this term? You know, there's these four capabilities. What are these four capabilities, Paola?

Paola Pascual  6:37  
Yes. So these ones are CQ Drive, CQ Knowledge, XQ strategy, and CQ? I'm sure you'll explain them much better. Starting with that CQ drive. That's, that's a bit. I love that, that we started with that we're starting with this one, because that's the I guess, the the switch, right the the door that that when it opens, then it allows you to be part of that multicultural environment and the drive is that interest you have right and the confidence that you will be just functioning effectively and in a culturally diverse setting.

Simon Kennell  7:15  
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I think there's a bit of that kind of, to, to really have to demonstrate that high, CQ, there almost needs to be like this level of curiosity, and how you're approaching a situation across cultures, right? If you're just like, No, I, I know everything I need to know, I'm in my own little world, and I'm good here, you know, you're closing off right to all of those different cultures and worlds around you. And that drive is that intrinsic interest of that desire to to have these different experiences and meet people with different thoughts, right? You know, do you have the confidence in yourself to go and meet with someone who may have a different view of the world, right? And that's, that's, you know, that's something that comes from within, right? But you also gain these benefits from that. So that's CQ drive, right? And then we have CQ knowledge, what's that?

Paola Pascual  8:22  
Right, so the knowledge is, first we have the drive, right? We have that interest and the confidence and then we also need knowledge. How do how does the world work? How do cultures communicate? What does that include? What does CQ knowledge include?

Simon Kennell  8:42  
Yeah, so it's exactly that right? It's what you said it's the actual kind of the breakdown the scales, right? The economic legal systems? How is it different? What are the values? What are the differences in religious beliefs? Right? And what can we kind of see on paper, right, that's kind of what CQ knowledge is around, like, what what can we read in a book about the differences in cultures? And a lot of times, this is what you'll be able to find out just kind of Google searching, right? You'll be able to find out these things, you just Wikipedia country and you'll start you know, learning all these facts about the legal system and what have you. So this is yes, CQ knowledge is what are the actual differences? What can you read about these differences? These rules that you can you know, actually read.

Paola Pascual  9:39  
So then we have the internal drive or interest and then we have the knowledge. Do we have everything to thrive in a multicultural environment?

Simon Kennell  9:47  
Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's the thing, right is if you just know Okay, I just know about this country, and I have the interest in going and and learning about the country. That's still you're still missing some components here, right? And that's where we talk about strategy. Right? So now this is where we're going to touch really closely today on awareness and planning and checking. How are you? What is that encounter like, right? What do you what do you do when you get into that situation? And that's what we're going to touch on is a lot of the strategy. And then we're going to talk about CQ Action, which is the fourth one, right? And that is that what we talked about the, you know, ability to adapt, right? So how can we adapt through verbal and nonverbal behavior? And we're going to be really focusing on these second two. So if you want some CQ knowledge, we have a ton of episodes in the past about, you know, working with people from this culture, this country, check that out the CQ drive, I think you need to find within yourself, right. But today, the strategy and action we'll be talking about. Okay, so let's get into it. Right. If you have high CQ, what are some things that you will be able to do Paola? What's what's like a breakdown of some things that you should be able to do?

Paola Pascual  11:15  
Right. So if you have high CQ, then some of the things that you'll be able to do are you're able to recognize and adapt to cultural differences, right, you're able to see them and also adapt to them. You make sense of unfamiliar situations, you may be in a place or in a context where you don't really know what's happening, you don't really know how people are going to react, but you have the capability to make sense of it. And then you're also okay with being uncomfortable. You're okay with you said before tolerance, I love the word tolerance, you tolerate being uncomfortable in some situations, you accept not knowing everything, and then you are able to cross boundaries and prosper in multi, you know, multiple cultures. So it's not just only I am from Spain, and I do well in the US, but this is more at a global level. I am okay, wherever I go, because I have the capability. I have CQ, to... that comes with me everywhere. Hmm,

Simon Kennell  12:17  
yeah. And, and maybe it's a little bit cheesy to say, you know, I, you know, a global citizen, right. That's, that's one of the things you hear is a little bit cheesy, but I also love that idea that you are a citizen of the world, right? And you're not just a citizen of one country or the other. And I really think that that's a great way to think about how do you go through the world, right? Being a citizen of the world? Okay, so now, how can we do this? How are we? What are the actionable things? If I am Simon, I've never been anywhere. I've never done anything, I'm just kind of living my life, how do I increase my cultural intelligence?

Paola Pascual  12:58  
Right, so we're going to from from the second part of the episode, what we're going to do is first give very specific actionable tips to increase your CQ. And then we'll show CQ in action. So if you're actually working across cultures, what are some very specific things you can ask, think and do to approach those situations? So when it comes to increasing your CQ, I guess the first step is to understand your own cultural background? Right? How do you? How can you start to understand other backgrounds if you don't understand yours? First? Do you have any tips on how a person could even do that?

Simon Kennell  13:38  
Oh, well, I'm just Simon who's never been anywhere done anything? I don't know. I mean, you know, that's the thing, understanding your own cultural background. I mean, dig into your own history, I think that's a that's a really interesting part, I think, get this CQ knowledge, like we talked about before about your own culture and see if there are any things that kind of linked together, you know, if it's like, you come from a culture, that's very time, you know, oriented, that you need to be on time, maybe, yeah, look into that, why why is that? What are the values underneath all of this, our values, right? What are the values that we place on time, right, in this culture, and why we act on it like that? And and then you can start to understand that own background? I don't know. Like, is that a practice that you've done?

Paola Pascual  14:28  
Yes. And it's, I love how you said before, look into the history and the background. Like what, why are some things happening? Usually, the way we communicate the way we behave, has to do with the things that happened to our people, our ancestors. So looking into that really understanding, the more I read about it, the more sense it all makes, you start to really understand, to not make assumptions about people and just accept that that's the reality. So it's a practice I really love and I highly encourage people to do this. The second one is to travel easy, but very, very, very effective. Not only travel to a resort on the other side of the world, but just spend time by the pool, which is fantastic and amazing, but also really trying to get to know the people talk to the locals try to eat what they eat, travel and get around the way they do. You're a big traveler, Simon, you know, you know what it's like.

Simon Kennell  15:25  
Well, we both are we both are, I think and you know, I don't know, it's, that's always the thing, right? Is is my father, he was a big traveler, and so was my mother's. So as my mother, and they actually met backpacking in Egypt, on the Nile River on a boat, that's how they met, right. And so they were just to like dirty hippie backpackers, you know, kind of going through the world. And then they met, and they always kind of pushed that travel on us. And that was always something that that we were kind of pushed to do. And my dad, he would always say, don't be a tourist, be a traveler, right. And the difference with that is, when you're a traveler, you're you're there for the culture, you're there for the people. You're not just there to take pictures of things, and then go back to your air conditioned room, right? You're there to find out like, hey, what makes people tick, right? And that goes back to that first, that CQ drive, right? That curiosity of, of kind of what makes these people tick, I want to know, right? And that's where you that's something you can develop, the more you travel, and I've seen some of my friends, they they've done that, where maybe they've you know, I had a friend who came and visited me and it was the first time he left the United States. And then it was like the travel bug. That's what they say the travel bug bit him and then he just started traveling and developing this and developing this. Yeah, this this cultural awareness through that.

Paola Pascual  16:52  
I love that. I truly love that. So yeah, you you need to understand your own cultural background traveling also really, really helps to increase your CQ. A great step as well is to test yourself to see okay, what what is my CQ at this point? And that is really going to help you be aware of your of your own abilities and see the areas of improvement you may want to work on. international work experience nowadays is easier than ever. We're working. Look at us. We're working from Spain and Denmark and part of the teams in the United States and just spread across the globe. And that is really going to help you truly understand others to see how they collaborate, how they like to schedule meetings, how they like to give negative feedback, how they, you know, just all those daily behaviors that we take for granted. And then when we start to see other people doing it's like, oh, wait, there's also other ways to do it.

Simon Kennell  17:59  
Right. Right. Right. Exactly. Yeah. And again, like you said, it's more prevalent now than ever. And it's, it's a, it's a great thing to get into is if you can take the chance and take the opportunity. Of course, as well, you can also learn another language, language acquisition is a great way to develop that CQ. learn a different language, because language and culture are so intertwined, that that's gonna, that's going to happen, right. And then the last one is this exposure and reflection. So I don't know what you think about it. But when you go and travel and expose yourself to other cultures, always reflect on that and how that experience impacted you. Because I think you've learned so much through that.

Paola Pascual  18:45  
I 100%. Agree. And even if you don't have the means to go to other countries, you do have access to other cultures through the internet these days. So if you have a coworker from India, or from the UK, or from Germany, or from the US, and you're not so familiar with that culture, schedule, a coffee date, a virtual coffee, catch up and talk to them. And that really, really helps to see okay, how do people react to my comments? How do people engage in small talk? How do people write like, how do people build relationships? And so just all of these six main tips that we just offered, are going to make you more aware of what's happening are going to make you feel more confident and just more comfortable with other cultures, even if you don't know everything about it.

Simon Kennell  19:38  
Yeah, yeah. And that's, I think it's, it's a great, yeah, it's a great way to again, push yourself into that, you know, space where you're out of your comfort zone, right and you grow so much from that. Okay, so these are the steps on how to increase the CQ now, let's put it in action. Right. Let's talk about Working across cultures, what can we what can we do in these situations that are going to immediately impact our, you know, the way that we're behaving and how how we're more sensitive, more kind of present when it comes to cross cultural interactions.

Paola Pascual  20:19  
So here when, especially when we are not 100%? Sure, well, we don't feel that comfortable with other cultures, just because we don't know them so much, there's two main steps that you can take. The first one is to have a mindset checklist, which we'll go over in a moment. And the second part is to learn how to ask the right questions. It's a skill that is crucial for anything and everything you do in life, to find a boyfriend or girlfriend to get a job, to get promoted, to build relationships, to make better friends to find the best spot to get the best coffee spot. So really, it's it's a skill. But here again, run this mindset checklist, and then learn to ask the right questions. Simon, can you walk us through the mindset checklist, please?

Simon Kennell  21:13  
Yeah, so this is one that, you know, I think, honestly, even just, before any meeting, this can be helpful. But definitely when you're when you know, you're going to be walking into a situation where it's going to be, you know, with a different culture, and you're not really sure how it's going to go, or you at least have this sense that I don't really know this person. So I need to kind of, I need to prepare myself a little bit. You have these three steps, right? So number one is you want to check your assumptions and biases. And what does that mean? So checking your assumptions? What are you already assuming? What story are you already creating, in your mind about this other person? And about how the situation is going? Going to go? Right? What am I assuming to be true and false about this person, about their background about how they interact? What have you, right? And then you want to check on how are those assumptions influencing me? Is it influencing me to a positive way a negative way? You know, as long as you can identify those and put a name on those, then you know that that those are just what they are? They're just assumptions and biases, right? And check those are number two is that you want to really actively think about how you're going to be present in the encounter, right? So which me am I going to bring to the encounter? Am I going to bring the negative tired judgmental Simon, which maybe I'm feeling that right now, but at least I know that and at least I know, I can, you know, I can act on that? You know, what attitude am I going to bring that's going to help me learn, help me be more open and help ultimately achieve with this person? Right? And then the third step is, again, going back to that ambiguity, being prepared for that, right, preparing to not have all the answers preparing to feel like you're in that gray zone, right? And one thing to really consider there's think about, okay, how will I ask for clarification, if I'm not quite sure, how will I navigate that, but at least I know that I should be prepared to maybe not feel like everything is, is perfectly aligned? Yeah, so this is a kind of mental checklist. I don't know what you think it was. 

Paola Pascual  23:31  
I really like this checklist. And it has very, three very, three very simple steps, check your assumptions, and like preconceptions and stereotypes, be present, like, be there and join that encounter with curiosity, and then prepare for ambiguity and accept that not everything is black or white. And here, I think we have a lot of examples where first we do come in with assumptions, like we assume that all Hispanic people speak Spanish, that may not be true, or, you know, not everyone. Not all Asians are from China, like there are really a lot of assumptions that we sometimes without even noticing we would make. So that's something super important. And then with the prepare for ambiguity, our brains like to put people in boxes, but sometimes people fall into many different boxes. So not just into one, and I've heard the question, but where are you really from? And that's a question that is very difficult for some people. So just being okay with having people from sometimes mixed backgrounds. And, and this is just a very small example. But people again, can have a lot of different like a mix and match of different backgrounds. So it can be gray doesn't have to be black or white.

Simon Kennell  24:51  
It's a crazy question like, but where are you really from? Tell me the origin of wherever your ethnicity is, so I can put you in this box acts that then I can make those assumptions and biases about so that I feel more comfortable for myself. That's really like what that whole question is asking. It's so ridiculous. It's like, again, you know, checking that, that you can handle ambiguity. Like, what if I tell you that I actually, you know, I'm a dual citizen or a triple citizen, and that I've lived, you know, my whole life in different countries and that I have, you know, what does that you what does that mean? Right? So, it's again, it's, it's, yeah, that that ambiguity, right? And that's ultimately why we're all individuals is because we all have our own story and everything.

Paola Pascual  25:41  
That's absolutely it. So once we have the mindset checklist, and that is something that we do inward, it's something that has to do with ourselves, we also need to find out about the other part, like we need to really understand the situation and that it was the the C knowledge, I guess, the CQ knowledge, like, we really need to know what's, what's out there. And that's where the asking the right questions comes into play. And here we have an episode just on how to ask the right questions. But for this very specific context, we have, again, three easy steps. The first one is a very easy change that has a very big impact. And that is to ask open ended questions instead of yes, no questions. Usually, yes, no questions are leading, they can even be offensive in some situations. And so instead of saying, just a very simple example, Will the slides be ready tomorrow, you can just ask an open ended questions. When do you think the slides will be ready? Or instead of saying, Do you like this method? That's a yes, no question, when you can make it open with what are your thoughts about this method? And that is, again, these examples are just very simple. But asking open ended questions is a way to actually get the answer you're, you're looking for, and not just the leading the other person to what you may think about it.

Simon Kennell  27:12  
Yeah, but Well, and that's right, you're because the answer you're looking for is the transparent honest, like, you know, this is objective answer. It's not the answer that that person thinks they need to give you which in some cultures, if you ask that, yes or no question, they're going to give you the answer, especially if you're a manager that they feel like they should give you right, which may not be what's actually happening.

Paola Pascual  27:41  
That's exactly it. So the example, the first example that I gave, do you think the slides will be ready? Tomorrow? If you are a manager, and you ask this question, in many places, in many locations in the world, but especially in East Asia, you may get a yes. And it may not be happening, but saying no, especially to a manager is almost culturally unacceptable. So that's just something to be aware of. The second tip is to generalize questions and to de personalize them. So using words like generally, usually, typically, really helps. For example, how do people in your local team usually like to collaborate? Seven saying, do you do it like this? Then you can say, well, how do people in your local team usually like to collaborate? That would be one.

Simon Kennell  28:38  
Yeah. And it's, it's, again, it's not putting the spotlight on someone, right? It's opening it up a little bit, it's making it kind of safe to, to bring your own ideas to the table.

Paola Pascual  28:52  
That's it. And also, if you travel, so if this is all about business, but it really helps if you're traveling, and you really want to learn more about the culture, instead of saying, do you do this? You can say, well, how do people generally do it here? And again, that's a way as you said, not to put people on the spot. And the third one is to learn how to ask follow up questions. How do you do them? Simon? How do you ask good follow up questions?

Simon Kennell  29:21  
Yes. So I again, I think this is an interesting point, like, you're coming from a place of curiosity, and just then you're not you're not forming the question in a way to where you're looking for a certain answer, right? This open ended up like, you know, okay, so what led to this decision? Like, what were the factors, not me, you know, why did we do it this way? It's what led to this, what led to this decision? What would you like to see happen, right? So maybe you're if you're in a discussion with someone, and you really don't know what the actual endgame is for them. This is something that You can ask right? Okay, well, what would you like to see happen? Because I'm here, I'm open. And I'm curious. And we're about collaborating, right? And that's a very again, making the space safe for that person to bring in whatever idea they have.

Paola Pascual  30:14  
That's, I'm 100%. With you. And I really liked that last example you gave, what would you like to see happen? Sometimes, I'm sure this has happened to every single person working with cross cultural teams, is that a person suggested something and deep down, you're like, why on earth? Would they want that? Why? Why? Like, this doesn't make any sense. So that's generally not acceptable to say out loud. And and what you really want to do is find out the underlying reasons like why do they actually where are they coming from? What are their expectations? So what you just said, What would you like to see happen, may really lead to a solution. And that's where you truly collaborate. It's not that we do it my way or your way. It's like truly understanding the end goal, the end result? And working for it together.

Simon Kennell  31:06  
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Right. Exactly. Right. Okay, so we've just thrown so many frameworks and skills and approaches at you. Let's do a quick overview. Talking about CQ, we really started with these four capabilities. Holla What were these?

Paola Pascual  31:25  
Yes, so we had the CQ drive. And that is where you have that interest in confidence that things are, you know, that multicultural, for example, working across cultures is a good thing, it's a positive thing, it's something that you will enjoy. So you have that drive, then you have the CQ knowledge. And that is where you've, you've done your research, you've read books, you've talked to people, you've been in touch with that culture, so you know, how people generally behave in business, and you know, and how they build relationships, etc. And then you have the CQ Strategy that's like, Okay, I have all this knowledge, I have the motivation. Now, what do I What do I do? What do I how do I plan to act? How do I plan to go about the situation? And then you actually have the action? Like, okay, am I going to modify or adapt my, my vocabulary or the way I talk or my tone or my body language? Perhaps if you find out that in a country where you're traveling to it's not okay to do some hand gestures, perhaps you want to avoid them?

Simon Kennell  32:34  
Right, right. Right, right. And so these four components, right, you can really start to work on these. And there's so many ways that you can do this. And we talked about some of those ways, right? Like, understanding your own cultural background traveling, doing actual CQ testing to where you can see where your kind of weak spots are, of course, international work experience and learning a new language. And then of course, the exposure to different cultures, both even in your own city, your own country, but then internationally, and then reflecting on that, how can we what did we learn from this? What can we take from this? And then we put these into action, right? And we had these two kinds of frameworks that we were looking at what were those?

Paola Pascual  33:22  
Yes, so we have the two main steps when you work across cultures. The first one is to do this mind mindset checklist. And that had three steps, right? Check your own assumptions and biases. And that is when you really ask yourself, Okay, what what are my What do I assume to be true? Or do I have any stereotypes? Are these assumptions going to influence me and how, then you want to be present? You need to be aware of of your mood, your, your, your attitude, and that in that situation? And then really understand, okay, what is the me that is going to really be the best one for this specific situation, and then be there be present, be curious. And the last one is to be ready for ambiguity, prepare to have some great concepts. So not everything being so clear, don't don't try to put everyone into boxes. And then if you do need to ask for clarification, how will you do that? So that's the first one, the mindset checklist. And then the second one was to ask the right questions. How about that in a very summarized way?

Simon Kennell  34:35  
Yeah. So So there's three steps to this, right, you want to ask open ended questions, right. So like, when do you think the slides will or won't be ready? Instead of will they be ready, right? You want to use kind of more general types of questions, right? So like, how do people in your local team usually like to collaborate or how do you typically do this right and that's kind of creating the safe space you want to create Save questions so that people will actually share. And then you want to ask follow up questions. So this is step three, right? Asking follow up questions to, again, create the safe space and trying to get to those next steps and collaboration. So like, what led to this decision? Or what would you like to see happen? Or, in an ideal world? What do you think success would look like? What does that look like to you? Right? And really opening that up? And yeah, taking those three steps into into consideration when you're asking the right questions. So yeah, so Wow, we just went through so much, I feel like we as well, we learned a ton again, just by speaking with each other.

Paola Pascual  35:39  
I agree, I agree with you. So I guess the next steps would be to encourage people to keep increasing their cultural intelligence, and awareness. And I also wanted to mention that our remind people of the fact that we monitor that hello@talaera.com account, we read all the feedback, all your questions, and we're here also as kind of like consultants. So when people have questions like, How do I deal with this, or I have a team that is from different cultures? How can I better deal with the situation? So people can just send us an email, we're always happy to provide additional resources. And if there's something we haven't covered, that you'd like to learn more about? Let us know.

Simon Kennell  36:25  
Yeah, definitely let us know. And again, like you said, we're here. You know, these, we're here to consultants for you to help you and, and it's a big learning journey for everyone. And we just, we love helping people get through this. So, you know, the more that the more that, you know, and hopefully today's topic, we know there's been so much interest on it will be helpful for you going forward. We have so much more coming your way over the next couple of months. as well. You know, stay tuned for an in person podcast with Paola and myself. And yeah, we're we're going to America pretty soon, Paola, and then we're going to meet in person crazy, crazy stuff. Yeah, so Okay. To everybody out there listening. Thank you all so much for taking the time. And we hope you could walk away with some great tips and yeah, and ideas for moving forward. And really, yeah, cultivating that, you know, cross cultural intelligence. That's a really beautiful thing. And a beautiful skill to have in this world. So, so yeah. All right. Paola, are we done for the day?

Paola Pascual  37:36  
I think we are.

Simon Kennell  37:37  
Yeah, yeah, I think we're done for the day. All right, to all of you out there, have a great rest of your night, your day, your morning, what have you and as always, keep learning.

Paola Pascual  37:49  
And that's all we have for you today. We hope you enjoyed it. And remember to subscribe to Talaera Talks. We'll be back soon with more

Simon Kennell  37:57  
and visit our website at talaera.com for more valuable content on business English. You can also request a free consultation on the best ways for you and your team to improve your communication skills. So have a great day and keep learning!