Mon • Jan 25th, 2010 • by Tom Nees • Comments 3
reflections on a new book by David Livermore
how to avoid embarrassing yourself and offending others
Whether doing business, providing aid or simply traveling abroad, Americans have been dubbed the “ugly Americans.” The 1958 book “The Ugly American” prompted then president Eisenhower to order a reform of American aid programs.
A 1963 movie staring Marlo Brando as “The Ugly American”—an offensive, brash, arrogant engineer in Southeast Asia, interested in advancing projects that benefited Americans rather than the local populace—popularized the description.
In spite, or perhaps because of, our global culture and multicultural society, the negative reputation unfortunately too often applies today. The “ugly American” syndrome has come to characterize cultural insensitivity at home as well as abroad.
Cultural insensitivity is more than bad behavior according to David Livermore in his new book, Leading with Cultural Intelligence.
Livermore defines cultural intelligence as an awareness of and appreciation for cultural differences—an essential skill for leaders in a multicultural world. Without it they are likely to unwittingly, and out of ignorance, embarrass themselves and offend others. Livermore recounts many of his own mistakes.
Even Harry Reid, the Senate Majority leader recently apologized for his “poor choice of words” during the 2008 campaign in his description of candidate Barack Obama.
Livermore, the executive director of the Global Learning Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, provides an online cultural awareness self-assessment on his website. What we learn about our own cultural preferences may be as revealing as feedback from those of other cultures.
There is a lot to learn about ourselves as well as others. The path toward cultural intelligence begins with self-awareness—how we are all shaped by and act out of our own cultural behavior patterns. For Livermore, the motive for cultural intelligence is genuine appreciation, if not affection, for people from other cultures.
Cultural intelligence requires intentional study of cultural differences and a willingness to change behavior patterns as necessary to develop leadership effectiveness in any cross-cultural situation.
Livermore believes that everyone, leaders especially, can become culturally intelligent. Even though we’ll always need to learn and always be ready to apologize – as Senator Reid did – we can improve.
In today’s global village, sooner or later, most leaders will find themselves engaged in multicultural conversations and relationships. Cultural intelligence is essential for success.
January 25th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Thanks Brother Tom.
Great blog. I think “The Ugly Evangelical” would be an interesting book.
Our insensitivity to other traditions within the Christian Church which alienate and divide us, our lack of authenticity and humility which loses us respect from and connection with the “EC” and unchurched millennials (20 somethings), and our co-opted, politicized relationship with the Republican party in which we lost our objective and more importantly prophetic voice, are all issues that need to be addressed and repented from. I’ll just complain, you write the book! We need to stick with our gifts!
Thanks for your influence on my life, and the lives of so many.
Grace & Peace,
Ron Salsbury
January 25th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
What a very important topic. I just heard an interview on NPR with Shankar Vedantam the author of The Hidden Brain. In his book he talks about how our biases are formed very early and and deep in the brain. Images and things seen early in life imprint on us what is “normal” and what is unfamiliar and makes us uncomfortable. This often comes out in very unexpected ways in our thoughts and behavior–especially institutional behavior.
I used to tell my nursing students that learning to be culturally intelligent and competent takes intentionality–awareness first and then intentionally exposing ourselves to literature, music, cultures that are different and valuing differences rather than fearing them.
I have a book on my shelves entitled “Unintentional Racism in Counseling” It might be interesting to think about “Unintentional Racism in Ministry”
Lois Wagner
January 26th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Tom, thanks for addressing a very important subject. I have a vivid memory of the time when I first was aware of the need for cultural sensitivity. It was 1960, I was ten, and my family lived in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. The river bed running through the city was usually dry except for flash floods, and one day the waters came down from the mountains. The flow usually lasted for only a few hours. We gathered with other residents to watch it. After the waters had subsided substantially, one brave woman decided to risk crossing to the other side in the knee-deep water. My father pulled out his camera and took a picture. Immediately, an Ethiopian man of about 29 or 30 said in a rebuking tone: “American, have you come to take pictures of us in our poverty?” I know Dad felt unfairly criticized, but I also know that the words had a lasting impact on him, Mom, and me and affected the way that we interacted with Ethiopians for the next six years.
This question is especially important for Nazarenes since American leadership continues to dominate the church. The official figures for 2009 show that when the statistical year ended in September, American residents composed 33.5 percent of Nazarenes world-wide. If the growth rates outside the U.S. for recent years have remained steady in the past 4 months, then Americans have slipped below the one-third threshold of denominational membership since September. How Americans interact with the global fellowship is a matter of utmost importance as a mark of our discipleship, not to mention good manners.