He was standing in a corner of the Human Resource lobby of a medical facility. His arms were tightly crossed and his face expressed anger and disgust. For twenty years he expertly performed his duties as a neurosurgeon. Now he received an email stating he needed to get his fingers printed. He thought, “Why do I need my fingers printed? What crime are they accusing me of? Has not my 20 years of faithful service proved my trustworthiness and integrity?”

The man was from the horn of Africa working in an American hospital. Because of 911, security has become a top priority for the hospital. The hospital issued a directive for all their employees to submit to being fingered printed for a background investigation. Most Americans working at the hospital did not give second thought to this directive. But this African doctor was highly offended and his trust was betrayed.

The typical response of an American employee hearing the African doctor’s story disgustedly say, “This is America; he (the African doctor) needs to just suck it up and accept the American way.”

This story illustrates the lack of Cultural Intelligence on the part of the hospital, the African doctor, and the American employees. Cultural Intelligence is the strategic advantage for success for any organization doing “business” in our global world.

Questions: (1) What is Cultural Intelligence? (2) What actions and attitudes would have been evident if there was a moderate level of Cultural Intelligence? (3) Who is most responsible for growing in Cultural Intelligence?