Blog Perspective taking on purpose: How Cultural Intelligence helps communicators see more clearly Last updated: January 2, 2026 Calculating… Guest contributor, Comms Guru and CQ facilitator Sarah Black guides us through perspective taking to ensure our messages hit the mark for each of our audiences without extra resource. Take a moment to think about all the different audiences and perspectives you need to engage with in your role. The list probably covers multiple functions, roles, locations and cultural backgrounds. A critical part of our role as communicators is to engage each of these audiences in ways that feel relevant and resonate. Mostly, we excel at it. But when we’re working under pressure, surfing ever more frequent waves of change, our own background and experiences can influence our impact. How can we be more effective without more resources? Cultural Intelligence™ (CQ) is the ability to work and engage effectively across difference. Perspective taking takes more than talent or empathy. It is a discipline we need to practice. The Cultural Intelligence (CQ) framework gives us a way to pause, reflect on how well we see our audiences’ different perspectives and refine our impact. It has four interrelated capabilities: Drive, Knowledge, Strategy and Action. CQ Drive: Your fuel gauge CQ Drive is your motivation, confidence and persistence to engage across difference. Take a breath and ask yourself how motivated you are to engage fully with a specific audience, particularly if it is one where you face more challenges. Low Drive can indicate burnout or fatigue, so look for ways to introduce some curiosity or reward yourself for working on it. Ask yourself: ‘How much do I really want to work with people who perceive the role of communications differently from me?’ CQ Knowledge: Stay curious CQ Knowledge isn’t just about gathering data and insights, it is about curiosity and understanding how our different backgrounds shape the way we receive and respond to communications. Check whether your audience profiling goes beyond ‘doesn’t use the intranet’ to understanding what it is like to be them. Some key behavioural differences to consider are how they feel about power or hierarchy and how they respond to change, uncertainty and risk. Ask yourself: ‘Whose experience of our organisation is the most different from mine and how am I hearing from them?’ CQ Strategy: Thinking about our thinking CQ Strategy, also known as metacognitive CQ, is the practice of pausing to think about our own thinking and asking ourselves what assumptions we’re making about our communications with our audiences. It is also about considering different perspectives without judgement and acknowledging that not everyone will respond as you do. Ask yourself: ‘What assumptions am I making about how this message will be received by different audiences?’ CQ Action: Flex to avoid failure CQ Action calls us to adapt within the clear parameters of our own and our organisation’s values. So, while we might adapt tone, channel, imagery, language and timing, we need to do it ethically and within our organisation’s context. It might begin with asking more curious, open questions and noticing our assumptions shape how we interpret the answers! Ask yourself: ‘What is one thing I can do today to adapt my current comms plan to better engage with different perspectives?’ Keep questioning perspectives, not yourself We are all doing the best we can with the time, energy and resources that we have. As communicators, we are already adept at thinking about different audiences. Developing your Cultural Intelligence and your perspective taking skills will help you be even more effective. It also means letting go of perfectionism. High CQ means acknowledging a ‘try, sometimes fail and always learn’ mindset. Even small shifts in behaviour can help you make an even greater impact.
Guest contributor, Comms Guru and CQ facilitator Sarah Black guides us through perspective taking to ensure our messages hit the mark for each of our audiences without extra resource.
Take a moment to think about all the different audiences and perspectives you need to engage with in your role. The list probably covers multiple functions, roles, locations and cultural backgrounds. A critical part of our role as communicators is to engage each of these audiences in ways that feel relevant and resonate. Mostly, we excel at it. But when we’re working under pressure, surfing ever more frequent waves of change, our own background and experiences can influence our impact.
How can we be more effective without more resources? Cultural Intelligence™ (CQ) is the ability to work and engage effectively across difference. Perspective taking takes more than talent or empathy. It is a discipline we need to practice. The Cultural Intelligence (CQ) framework gives us a way to pause, reflect on how well we see our audiences’ different perspectives and refine our impact. It has four interrelated capabilities: Drive, Knowledge, Strategy and Action.
CQ Drive: Your fuel gauge CQ Drive is your motivation, confidence and persistence to engage across difference. Take a breath and ask yourself how motivated you are to engage fully with a specific audience, particularly if it is one where you face more challenges. Low Drive can indicate burnout or fatigue, so look for ways to introduce some curiosity or reward yourself for working on it. Ask yourself: ‘How much do I really want to work with people who perceive the role of communications differently from me?’
CQ Knowledge: Stay curious CQ Knowledge isn’t just about gathering data and insights, it is about curiosity and understanding how our different backgrounds shape the way we receive and respond to communications. Check whether your audience profiling goes beyond ‘doesn’t use the intranet’ to understanding what it is like to be them. Some key behavioural differences to consider are how they feel about power or hierarchy and how they respond to change, uncertainty and risk. Ask yourself: ‘Whose experience of our organisation is the most different from mine and how am I hearing from them?’
CQ Strategy: Thinking about our thinking CQ Strategy, also known as metacognitive CQ, is the practice of pausing to think about our own thinking and asking ourselves what assumptions we’re making about our communications with our audiences. It is also about considering different perspectives without judgement and acknowledging that not everyone will respond as you do. Ask yourself: ‘What assumptions am I making about how this message will be received by different audiences?’
CQ Action: Flex to avoid failure CQ Action calls us to adapt within the clear parameters of our own and our organisation’s values. So, while we might adapt tone, channel, imagery, language and timing, we need to do it ethically and within our organisation’s context. It might begin with asking more curious, open questions and noticing our assumptions shape how we interpret the answers! Ask yourself: ‘What is one thing I can do today to adapt my current comms plan to better engage with different perspectives?’
Keep questioning perspectives, not yourself We are all doing the best we can with the time, energy and resources that we have. As communicators, we are already adept at thinking about different audiences. Developing your Cultural Intelligence and your perspective taking skills will help you be even more effective. It also means letting go of perfectionism. High CQ means acknowledging a ‘try, sometimes fail and always learn’ mindset. Even small shifts in behaviour can help you make an even greater impact.
