WHY CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE IS A LEADERSHIP SKILL

Kketan Amarnath Waghmare
Feb 17
2 min read

Years ago, I attended a session on cultural sensitivity as a participant.

It made intellectual sense.

But working from India then, it remained abstract.

That changed when I ventured abroad.

First to the Maldives. Then to the high seas.

Over time, that session began to return to me through experience.

The first time I had filled in for my HRD was during one such assignment. I was unfamiliar with Western workplace norms, and this was a period when internet access wasn’t what it is today—no quick references, no instant recalibration.

So I did what I believed was right.

I never sat on his chair. I stayed physically away from his space. I led the function, but consciously from the side. To me, that was respect.

Only later did I realise how that landed.

What I saw as humility was read by some as hesitation.

Restraint quietly translated into perceived incompetence.

The learning became unmistakable onboard, during my first contract.

At the buffet, my HRD and I picked up our meals and walked to a table. I sat directly opposite him. He stood up and sat beside me. I got up and returned to sitting opposite him.

He stopped me, smiled, and said,

“Here, a manager and a subordinate are colleagues.”

That single sentence rewired something in me.

Where I came from, sitting opposite was respect.

Where I was now, sitting beside was equality.

Neither was wrong.

But misunderstanding the difference had consequences.

That’s when cultural intelligence stopped being content.

It became a leadership skill.

What you mean by leadership matters far less than how it’s received.

What often looks like calm or composure is simply learning that isn’t visible anymore.

#Leadership #CulturalIntelligence #LeadershipLessons #GlobalExposure #HumanLeadership #LearningThroughExperience #kketanwaghmare