LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Book Application Assignment: Leading Cross-Culturally
Submitted to Dr. Matthew Chittum,
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
GLST 650
Intercultural Communication and Engagement
by
Nathan D. Varnadore
February 28, 2021
Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………….…………..1
Contents………………………………………………………………………………………..2-5
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….……..………..6
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………..7
ii
1
Introduction
In David Livermore’s book, he brings attention to Leading with Cultural Intelligence,
how the reader can and should be aware of various factors that can impact intercultural
communication on a local and global scale. Livermore attempts to give the reader various tools
throughout the book to give them an awareness of cultural awareness and sensitivities that could
hinder ones position in leadership if they are not aware of their own norms and values.
Livermore even states that the purpose of this book is to simply “teach one how to lead with
cultural intelligence” . Livermore is very effective in his approach, because it is obvious
1
throughout the book that he is speaking from first-hand experience and also backs us what he
presents with copious amounts of data and research. Livermore did not write this book
specifically for those of us that are in ministry, but for anyone that is leading in any capacity in a
multicultural setting. Livermore break down what he is presenting throughout the book into four
areas :CQ Drive, CQ Knowledge, CQ Strategy, and CQ Action2. While we may have familiarity
with what “cultural intelligence” may be, Livermore takes each area into great detail and even
gives the reader various tools throughout the chapter on how to strengthen each area and how to
specifically understand what makes a leader effective in each “CQ” area. Livermore does an
outstanding job of relaying a lot of information effectively but, not so dense that what he is
presenting doesn’t seem achievable to the reader. He (Livermore) takes a heavy topic and does
an excellent job of presenting the material in a way that empowers the reader in that regardless if
they believe they are a natural leader or not, Livermore believes (convincingly) that any person
1 Livermore, David Leading With Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret To Success, 2 Edition
nd (New York,
NY: Amacon Publishing, 2015).8
2 Ibid, 4-5
2
can be an effective cross-cultural leader if they desire to be . I will be presenting five different
3
perspectives that “stuck with me” as I was reading this book, and explain how what I have seen
can and has been applied to my current ministry.
The first thing that really stuck with me was how Livermore breaks down how one can
develop a stronger CQ Drive. Livermore explains that a leader with a high CQ Drive, tends to be
someone that has a “motivation to learn how to adapt to new and diverse cultural settings” .
4
Livermore also points out that leaders that have a high CQ Drive can cause the leader to have a
stronger influence on how other perform in that multicultural setting. The reason this stuck out to
me is because I would admit that my CQ Drive has dwindled with age and life circumstances. In
order to be effective as a leader or even to make a kingdom impact, you must be willing to step
outside of your comfort zone and break away from cultures that are similar or the same as your
own. Livermore even points out that having a low CQ drive can truly hinder you in how you
interact and strategize interactions with other cultures. Being a student minister, this is something
that I can definitely see with adults that just refuse to try to understand how teens today think and
what they struggle with. Applying this same principle to cultures that are outside of what I live in
and work with (currently) and I am no different than them. Livermore suggests to be intentional
and actively immerse yourself in settings and situations that forces the individual to understand
other cultures better . As simple as it sounds, it is effective!
5
The second point Livermore makes that jumped out to me was his human behavior
categories. Livermore shows this as an iceberg and three categories that start shallow and work
deeper. These categories are universal, cultural artifacts & systems/cultural values and
3 Ibid, 21
4 Ibid, 43
5 Ibid, 64
3
assumptions, and personal . What Livermore is making the case for is that in order for an
6
individual to be effective and grow in their cultural knowledge, they must be able to go beyond
the universal behaviors (he uses the example of being on a subway and seeing how people rarely
interact as an example, that is found everywhere) and understand how and why people prioritize
7
things differently within their culture before you can get into a personal relationship with them.
Where this speaks to me is many times as we develop plans for ministry, we tend to look at it
from the place of our preferences or from what majority of people in the room do. It is very easy
for a room of adults to assume they understand what the needs of a community are, but they tend
to cater to the needs of what they are familiar with as opposed to actually relating and knowing
what it is people need and how it should be approached. We have seen this occur in our world
today with the racial tensions and how poor communication on both sides has led to explosive
tensions.
The third thing (technically multiple things) that really spoke to me was Livermore’s
explanation of cultural systems. Livermore spends an extensive amount of time and pages
providing examples of systems that must be taken into consideration when formulating a CQ
strategy and wanting to gain influence in a multicultural setting. From a ministerial standpoint, I
have personally seen how an understanding of how knowing how a culture’s family system can
impact their receptiveness to the gospel. Livermore presents knowing the difference between a
kinship family system (multi generations in one home) and a nuclear family system(one to two
generations in one home) can impact how people view and prioritize their time and resources. I
can remember the pastor we were partnered with for our mission trip to Venezuela, lived in a
home that contained four generation in it (his mother, himself, his daughter, and grandchildren)
6 Ibid, 75
7 Ibid, 74
4
the context that gospel spoke the loudest to him was that Christ is the bringer of justice and
paradise to those who live a life that has little to no hope. His family system shaped his priorities
and outlook on how he spread the gospel to others, as opposed to un looking at how Christ
benefits the individual. The church he was leading was made up of families from all over the
area, and their faith is formed by being a body of believers that held a collective mindset.
The collective mindset is the fourth point that spoke wo me because when I think at how
we do ministry, it is the idea that the individual will contribute to the collective in their salvation.
Livermore writes “understanding the implications of individualism vs. collectivism is paramount
in developing ones CQ Knowledge” . As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, to understand
8
this this system should change the way we do ministry when we appropriately analyze the needs
of that community and culture. The collective system is something that is very prevalent in many
hispan9c cultures, and it has a great impact on how Hispanic students learn and speak English in
their homes. I have had many students (when I was a teacher) that lived in the United States
almost their whole lives but because they had a multi-generational home that was not English
speaking, it caused linguistic barriers. We tend to have more of an individualism mindset in our
country because we want self-accountability as opposed to other holding us accountable. The
fact is, in order for the body of Christ to work together, we are called to be more collective as
spelled out in Ephesians 4:15-16 (CSB):
15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—
Christ. From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament,
16
promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of
each individual part.
-Ephesians 4:15-16 CSB
8 Ibid, 102
5
Finally, Livermore makes a case in how to develop an effective/better CQ Strategy. One
key piece that he brings is the idea that we should do a better job of listening as opposed to
dominating a conversation . Something as simple as actually trying to learn from another culture
9
instead of trying to get them understand your culture and perspective better, it is better to be an
active and engaged listener. The only way to truly learn how you can make the impact you want
in another culture can start with something as simple as immersing yourself in their culture and
actively listening and learning. Sounds shallow and simple, but I have been guilty of working
harder on trying to get others to understand me as opposed to me trying to understand them
better. In order to effectively get the gospel out to the world, we must be willing to understand
and listen to other cultures and it will reveal why/how they have the needs and norms that they
have. This will then strip away our assumptions and develop something more solid and
impactful .
10
Conclusion
In conclusion, Livermore did an excellent job presenting various tools and systems that
are applicable to my ministry today. As much as may have thought I understood various cultures,
Leading with Cultural Intelligence revealed to me the different factors that are in play when it
9 Ibid, 147
10 Ibid, 148
6
comes to developing one’s cultural understanding and planning. From beginning to end, I saw
information that was presented effectively and backed by data to present an excellent resource
that any leader that will ever work in a multi-cultural setting. Livermore takes a subject that can
be very “loaded” and condenses it in a way that you can apply his knowledge into your ministry
and see growth in one’s cultural knowledge and leadership.
7
Bibliography
Livermore, David Leading With Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret To Success, 2 Edition
nd
(New York, NY: Amacon Publishing, 2015)
