Cultural Entry Model - H.

Jones MSOD 616

Cultural Entry Model

The following is a model developed based on my experience in Practicum 1 in Lyon, France.
This model is intended to facilitate intentional and reflective behaviors that support my effective

Preparation Participation Post-Reflection

What do I need to know? What strengths can I What did I learn about the
Key Words leverage? culture?
Cultural Basics Adaptability Observations and Surprises
My Own Environment Observation and Awareness Key Experiences
High CQ Drive
Where can I find information? What did I learn about myself?
Contacts / Hosts What behaviors should I Helpful Behaviors
Gov / Business Resources focus on? Limiting Behaviors
Confidence in Abilities
How should I contact others? Lean into Leadership What should I adopt moving
Assume Formality forward?
Express Gratitude What role will I assume? Important Practices
Notable Behaviors
Context-Setter
Leader

Specific Cultural Context

entry into different cultural settings. The components of the model are described below.
Preparation
• What do I need to know?
Participation • Key Words - I have identified key words as an important
component of cultural knowledge because I believe that knowing how
What strengths can I to say a few simple things in the local language signals respect for the
leverage? culture you are entering.
• Cultural Basics - For me, I appreciate having a base level of
What behaviors should I focus understanding about the culture of the country I am entering because it
on? helps me to put my experience into context while I am navigating the
country. It also helps me tune into important cultural dynamics more
What role will I assume? effectively and quickly.
• My Own Environment - I know that to be my most effective in any
environment I need to have a certain level of physical comfort and well-being. Before
entering a new environment I like to find out as much as I can about the facilities in
which I will be staying and what my schedule will be like, so I can plan accordingly
to make time and space for the self-care I need to be my best.
• Where can I find information?
• Contacts/Hosts - Before traveling abroad I always reach out to people I know who
have been to the countries I am visiting. When I can, I also reach out to my hosts, be
Cultural Entry Model - H.Jones MSOD 616
they the client I am working for, the owner of the AirBnB I am staying in, or the
friends I am visiting, for information and advice.
• Government/Business Resources - Resources provided by the local governments of
the region or city I am visiting and by the U.S. Department of State are very useful
sources of pragmatic information. I have also found tourist board sites to be very
relevant and helpful resources to learn about local areas.
• How should I contact others?
• Assume Formality - In general, I find the U.S. to be less formal than other cultures so
it is important to me to adapt my forms of greeting and communication to match
higher levels of formality.
• Express Gratitude - The more I travel the more blessed I feel to be an English
speaker, and as I begin to conduct business around the world that feeling is
magnified. For this reason I always want to show gratitude to those I interact with,
particularly when that interaction is in my native language and not theirs.

Participation
• What strengths can I leverage?
• Adaptability - My high-level of awareness around my own needs, and my ability to
adapt in order to get those needs met serves me well in foreign environments and is a
strength I want to continue to leverage.
• Observation and Awareness - I am an very observant person. I tend to notice details
that others miss, which can be helpful in unknown environments as it allows me to
connect dots and see patterns that provide valuable information about what is
occurring around me.
• High CQ Drive - I scored high on both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on our CQ
assessment, which can be leveraged in new situations to increase my own desire and
interest for particular experiences.
• What behaviors should I focus on?
• Confidence in Abilities - Recently I have observed a reoccurring and limiting habit
that plays a large role in my effectiveness internationally; lack of confidence in my
own abilities. In new or ambiguous situations, like those encountered abroad, the
impacts of this kind of hesitation are magnified, if not in outcomes certainly in my
own emotions. As I continue to navigate multi-cultural situations, domestically and
abroad, I want to pay attention to this habit and work to mitigate it.
• Lean into Leadership - Similarly, I have observed that because of my experience
abroad, and likely other leadership traits I exhibit, people look to me in uncertain
circumstances. At times this makes me uncomfortable, and I try to deflect this
leadership back, dispersing it in the group, but that behavior rarely has a positive
impact, something which I have observed several times in this program. I want to do
a better job of paying attention to when this is occurring in international situations
and lean into the leadership I am given by others rather than try and deflect it.
• What roles will I assume?
• Context-Setter - I am quick to understand contexts, pulling together relevant
information to paint a picture of the current state. This aptitude often puts me in the
role of context-setter, someone who pulls things together and level-sets groups. In
international settings this role is particularly helpful because of the amount of new
and possibly unfamiliar information we are exposed to. For this reason I think leaning
into this role can help me be of service to groups when we are working
internationally.
Cultural Entry Model - H.Jones MSOD 616

• Leadership - As I mentioned, I tend to be looked to as a leader in groups. In D.C. I

made it a goal not to act as a leader in our consulting project, whereas in Lyon, I
made no specific goal about avoiding that role. I received feedback that I was
experienced as far more effective, natural, and even as safer when I leaned into my
skills in Lyon, than when I avoided them in D.C. This feedback is great
reinforcement for me to not be shy of holding my own power in leadership roles in
the future, as it can be helpful for individuals and for the group.

Post-Reflection
• What did I learn about the culture?
• Observations and Surprises - I want to reflect generally on my experience and take
note of consistent observations as well as things that surprised me and differed from
my expectations.
• Key Experiences - It is important to reflect on key experiences I had while abroad
and understand what insights I can pull from them. These experiences often shed
light on significant behaviors and perceptions from which I can learn.
• What did I learn about myself?
• Helpful Behaviors - In addition to reflecting on the culture, I also want to reflect on
myself in the culture. What strengths did this experience uncover in me as an
individual? What behaviors helped me most in this international or multi-cultural
experience? What did they look like and when did they occur? Through this reflection
I hope to identify more behaviors that serve me well in new environments.
• Limiting Behaviors - Digging deeper into my own behaviors, I want to also assess
what was limiting to me in the new cultural context. What behaviors did I engage in
that limited my effectiveness in this new cultural experience? Where and when were
these behaviors observed? Are there any patterns in why these emerge? By reflecting
on my limiting behaviors I hope to learn what I can change to be more effective in
new environments.
• What should I adopt moving forward?
• Important Practices - Based on my reflections I will identify specific practices that
will help me be more effective in a new cultural setting.
• Key Behaviors - Based on my reflections I will identify behaviors to stop, start and
continue in new cultural settings.

Specific Cultural Context - Finally, this entry model acknowledges that my experiences,
learnings and reflections will be unique depending on what culture I am in, and that learnings
from one culture may not be applicable in another. While I want to carry my learnings with me
across cultural experiences, I cannot expect that things will serve me equally well across
cultures. For this reason I must use this model with an eye toward the unique aspects of each
culture I enter, and always be open to new ways of seeing and doing things.