Episode 3: What we've learned so far - Part 1

As we approach the holiday season, I find myself in a reflective mood. It's the perfect time to pause and think about the year that's passed, the lessons we've learned, and the growth we've experienced. With that in mind, I’m excited to share a special holiday reflection episode of "The Shift" podcast with you all! 🎉

In this episode, I take a stroll down memory lane and explore some fascinating patterns that emerged between my own story of shift, which I shared in the introductory episode, and my insightful conversation with David Livermore. If you haven’t listened to those episodes yet, now's a great time to catch up!

Ever since recording the episode with David, I've been reflecting a lot about the practice of reflection itself. We often say we reflect on things, but do we really do it with the discipline, honesty, and humility needed to truly learn and grow? 🤔

When it comes to learning about different cultures and understanding how our behaviors appear to others, reflection is crucial. It's not just about thinking back on events, but really digging deep and asking ourselves the tough questions. It’s about recognizing our own cultural values and seeing how they might be perceived by others from different backgrounds.

In this episode, I share some critical learnings that can help increase your cultural intelligence. Whether it's through personal anecdotes or insights from experts like David, there’s so much we can gain from these moments of reflection. I hope it inspires you to take a moment to reflect on your own experiences and see things from a new perspective.

Reflection isn’t always easy, but it’s such a powerful tool for personal growth. It helps us become more aware of ourselves and more empathetic towards others. As we navigate our diverse world, building our cultural intelligence is more important than ever.

I’d love for you to listen to this holiday reflection episode and join me on this journey of discovery. Reflect on your own experiences, think about what you’ve learned about yourself and others, and consider how it’s impacted your relationships and leadership.

And of course, I’d love to hear your thoughts! How do you practice reflection? What have you learned about yourself and others through this process? Share your stories and insights – let’s learn and grow together.

Catch you soon, and happy reflecting!

Trisha

Listen below on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

• Transcript

  Trisha 00:00:25:07 - 00:00:50:13

  Welcome to our holiday edition of The Shift. If you listened last week with David Livermore, I know I said that this week we would have part two of the interview with David. But having released that the week before the holiday break, and here in the southern Hemisphere, we have both Christmas and New Year holidays and it's summer. So we know a lot of you are not going to be in listening mode.

  Trisha 00:00:51:01 - 00:01:14:05

  We thought it might be best to hold off a week until people are back and thinking, working and learning mode. But if you are a little bit like me, actually enjoy listening and learning in your breaks, then welcome. I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect for a moment on what we've heard so far and to draw some connections and key points.

  Trisha 00:01:14:22 - 00:01:42:15

  And yes, I realize we've only gotten in two so far. So these common points may not hold up as the series goes on and we hear about different people's moments of shift. But the most striking point that stood out so far is that moments of shift are not necessarily moments of joy and delight. When I spoke on the introductory episode, I was horrified to realize how I must appear to people who thought differently to me.

  Trisha 00:01:43:02 - 00:02:06:22

  And last week, Dave spoke about feeling ticked off and feeling defensive in his moment of shift. I'm wondering if pain or at least discomfort is always a part of shift. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. In future episodes, we'll hear about other people's moments of shifts and we can see if this is a pattern. Or maybe not.

  Trisha 00:02:08:01 - 00:02:44:16

  The other key point from episodes so far is that moments of shift aren't necessarily automatic. To get to that metacognitive awareness, there needs to be some reflection. Stopping to think from that observer position. Dave unpacked that reflection skill for us when he spoke of CQ strategy. This takes time and stepping out of the everyday doing focus that we may be caught up in and instead considering what's actually happening, checking our own thoughts and judgments and asking ourselves where those thoughts came from.

  Trisha 00:02:46:02 - 00:03:09:16

  And this will help us unpack our own cultural thinking and to recognize how it's influencing how we are showing up. The third thing that may also be helpful is using the checking component of CQ awareness. Dave spoke about listening to others and to their input, and that helped him make that mental shift. And that takes me to my fourth observation.

  Trisha 00:03:10:05 - 00:03:36:02

  Reflection or listening to others. It needs cultural humility, the willingness to see others cultures, beliefs or actions as equally as valid as my own. Interestingly, cultural humility hasn't been part of the cultural intelligence model that I've been teaching or coaching with. So I'm going to be searching the research to see what I can find. And I'll definitely get back to you on that in future episodes.

  Trisha 00:03:36:18 - 00:04:00:01

  So whether we're wanting to grow our own cultural intelligence or helping others to make the mental shifts in their CQ, here's what we've learned so far. The first key aspect is we need to be willing to step into the discomfort or to sit with others and support them as they face the discomfort involved in making a mental shift.

  Trisha 00:04:00:12 - 00:04:31:24

  It's not necessarily easy, but it is worth it. As Dave said in the last episode. People often prefer building cultural knowledge that doesn't usually involve pain or discomfort. It can be quite the opposite satisfying, but it isn't the key way to growing our cultural intelligence. The second aspect is we need to give ourselves and encourage those we had coaching or training to give themselves the gift of time to reflect.

  Trisha 00:04:33:01 - 00:04:53:17

  I've been thinking because we're sitting right now between Christmas and New Year about the practices that I want to build more strongly into my life this year ahead and reflection-time is at the top of my list for practices for 2024. We'll also be looking at this in future episodes. I'm hoping to find some good strategies to support reflection.

  Trisha 00:04:55:02 - 00:05:14:19

  So thirdly, from the things we've learned so far, we need to check in with others to help us see things differently. Maybe we need to think about who we check in with. Are they people who are going to reinforce our own cultural beliefs or are they people who are going to expand our thinking because they themselves see things differently to us.

  Trisha 00:05:15:20 - 00:05:36:05

  And to do all of that successfully in a way that supports our growth, we need to bring cultural humility to that awareness. Thank you for listening to this ‚”What have we learned so far?”, episode. I hope the four points that we've reflected on will be helpful to you and to those that you are coaching or training. I wish you happy holidays.

  Trisha 00:05:36:11 - 00:05:56:21

  If you're listening while on a break, may you be refreshed and renewed by your time out. We look forward to the next episode with further learning from Dave. I'll be posting on LinkedIn about each episode and would love to hear your thoughts and reflections, so please join me there for future discussion and learning. Links will be in the show notes.

  Trisha 00:05:56:23 - 00:06:32:06

  Please subscribe or follow on your podcast app or listening device to make sure you keep up to date with new episodes. And if you liked this, we'd love you to give it a rating or review. So others can find it also, and wishing you all the best for 2024 may it be a year of learning and growth and gaining a deeper understanding of people, of culture and the world around us because we all know it's needed so much.