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Cultural Intelligence

Improving Your CQ to Engage Our Multicultural World

series: Youth, Family, and Culture

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About

Outreach 2010 Resource of the Year Award Winner

"Written for anyone who is serious about ministry, this book explains why cultural intelligence is essential and what one must do to develop and employ it in the practice of ministry."--Sherwood Lingenfelter, author of Ministering Cross-Culturally

As twenty-first-century society grows increasingly complex, pluralistic, and multicultural, it behooves Christians to communicate effectively between and among diverse populations. Research indicates that missions often fail because of cultural collision and lack of empathy and understanding between different peoples. David Livermore proposes a meta model--based on sound research principles and social science methodology--for helping Christians intelligently navigate the multicultural maze in Cultural Intelligence. The much-needed skill of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) both at home and abroad is the ability to work effectively across national, ethnic, and even organizational cultures. Livermore explains that CQ is not simply learning how to externally modify behavior but is based on inward transformation. His work is replete with assessment tools, simulations, case studies, and reflective exercises. Professors and students of missiology, practical theology, ministry leadership, intercultural studies, and sociology in Christian colleges, seminaries, and lay training programs will glean needed knowledge to become culturally sensitive, aware, and intelligent. This addition to the Youth, Family, and Culture series will help individuals and organizations share the Christian message with those of different backgrounds.

About the series: The Youth, Family, and Culture series examines the broad categories involved in studying and caring for the needs of the young and is dedicated to the preparation and vocational strengthening of those who are committed to the spiritual development of adolescents.


Endorsements

"The more I'm around Dave Livermore, the more I learn how to develop kingdom relationships that cross cultures. Whether you are leading a short-term mission trip, doing local justice work, or simply want to more effectively love others, you are smart to read Cultural Intelligence. You are even smarter if you apply its profound insights to your life and ministry."--Kara E. Powell, executive director, Fuller Youth Institute, Fuller Theological Seminary

"In an era of drive-by, short-term missions, David Livermore brings reconstruction. He does not merely suggest cultural sensitivity; he helps us deconstruct and build something new--a pathway to cultural intelligence that can guide us to be citizens of the kingdom of God while being proactively engaged as neighbors in the world."--Mark Oestreicher, president, Youth Specialties

"In our increasingly interconnected, multicultural world, the need for cultural understanding has never been greater. Cultural Intelligence is an essential, foundational resource for anyone who desires to effectively interact across cultures--whether traveling internationally, visiting urban centers, or becoming involved in a local school system. Read this book! It will enable you to understand your own culture and the lens through which you see all other cultures. And it will equip you to live in our globalized world."--Paul Borthwick, author of How to Be a World-Class Christian

"Comprehensive and accessible, this book clearly details the cultural intelligence model for multicultural ministry. In this book, David Livermore addresses both conceptual and practical issues on cultural intelligence. He has expanded the ideas of multiculturalism to include not only national cultures but also organizational and generational subcultures. This book is an ideal text and a valuable resource for building the core skills of cultural intelligence in individuals and organizations."--Soon Ang, executive director, Center for Leadership and Cultural Intelligence, Nanyang Business School, Singapore

"Written for anyone who is serious about ministry, this book explains why cultural intelligence is essential and what one must do to develop and employ it in the practice of ministry."--Sherwood Lingenfelter, author of Ministering Cross-Culturally


The Author

  1. David A. Livermore

    David A. Livermore

    David A. Livermore, PhD, is a social scientist devoted to the topics of cultural intelligence (CQ) and global leadership and the author of several award-winning books. He is a founder of the Cultural Intelligence Center and professor of global leadership at...

    Continue reading about David A. Livermore

Reviews

Outreach 2010 Resource of the Year Award Winner

"This engaging book seeks to tackle the challenges of cross-cultural interaction in the context of Christian ministry. Livermore, an expert in intercultural studies, urges his readers to 'become more multicultural people so that we might better express love cross-culturally.'. . . While grounded in both theory and theology, the strength of this book comes from the many vignettes from Livermore's personal experience in such places as Singapore, India and Cambodia. Questions throughout and a self-assessment test in the appendix give the book an interactive feel, drawing the reader into self-examination and application of the book's lessons. . . . All who are interested in the question of cross-cultural ministry will profit from its information and advice."--Publishers Weekly

"In today's multicultural world, having the skills to work across national, ethnic and organizational lines is a must for effective ministry. David Livermore's Cultural Intelligence preps pastors to become intercultural communicators of the gospel."--Ministry Today

"Although this is designed for serious youth workers, helping youth and family ministries grapple with important issues, it is helpful for anyone. . . . I can hardly think of a more up to date and urgent book that helps us understand various world cultures, the ethnic and racial diversity common these days, and the need to have some insight about how to be more effective in relating to others. Comprehensive and accessible, proactive and helpful."--Byron Borger, heartsandmindsbooks.com

"Anyone experiencing cultural differences will benefit from this insightful book. . . . [It] intersperses dozens of theoretical models with examples, stories, and journal entries, making the book both deep and interesting. . . . For a more serious study of the implications of cultural intelligence for the missionary enterprise, Cultural Intelligence is a significant and delightful book. I'm looking for ways I can use it in one of my seminary courses. Mission pastors will find the book useful in designing programs for missionary preparation. Cross-cultural workers in any setting will grow and become more effective as they serve."--Jim Plueddemann, Evangelical Missions Quarterly

"[An] excellent introduction to cross-cultural work and ministry. . . . [It] is destined to become a classic in its field and the benchmark against which future works will be based. . . . The Appendices are excellent, as are the short Suggested Reading sections at the end of each chapter. . . . This book is an absolute must for all ministry leaders and lay believers wishing to reach across the cultural barriers that have divided us for too long. . . . If the principles found in this book were to be carefully applied by all church leaders and those in ministry then churches and their surrounding communities would stand to reap the benefits."--Jonathan Downie, Pneuma Review

"Today, cross-cultural challenges are commonplace for many of our local churches. No longer do Christians have to travel to distant lands to experience [a] clash of cultures . . . making Livermore's insights in Cultural Intelligence important reading. In this book, Livermore helpfully blends good scientific and missiological theory to bridge chasms of cultural difference. His study is an integration of theory and personal experience. . . . This book is special in that it provides a highly developed, practical response to the problems of cultural difference. . . . Twenty-first-century church leaders everywhere in the world, in settings old and new, need to become experienced cross-cultural emissaries with a desire to birth, nurture, and reproduce faith communities that are equipped to function in postmodern and socially pluralistic contexts. Cultural Intelligence offers insights and advice that can help us to become such emissaries."--Wayne A. Holst, Congregations

"In an increasingly diverse and cynical society, the pursuit of cross-cultural competence is something that the church can no longer afford to ignore at home or simply relegate to missionaries living abroad. Livermore's book helps us understand our own culture and the grids through which we see the culture of diverse others with whom we walk, work, and worship in a dynamic global society. With such understanding, then, we will be better equipped to engage our multicultural world for the sake of friendship and faith, all for the sake of the Gospel."--Mark DeYmaz, Outreach