• HOME
  • About
  • Shop
  • Work With Me
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Nav Social Icons

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Shop
    • Budget Travel Bible
  • Destinations
    • North America
      • Canada
      • Haiti
      • United States
        • Arizona
        • Florida
        • Hawaii
        • Idaho
        • Illinois
        • Montana
        • Nevada
        • New York
        • Oregon
        • South Dakota
        • Utah
        • Washington
        • Wisconsin
        • Wyoming
        • National Parks
    • Europe
      • Faroe Islands
      • France
      • Iceland
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Norway
      • United Kingdom
    • Asia
      • Maldives
    • Oceania
      • Hawaii
      • French Polynesia
        • Bora Bora
        • Tahiti
    • Hotel Reviews
  • Travel Tips
    • Budget Travel Tips
    • Travel Hacking
    • All Travel Tips
  • Travel Essentials
    • Gift Guides
    • Packing Lists
  • Travel Photography
    • Camera Gear
    • Photography Tips
    • Photography Guides
  • Contact
  • Work With Me
  • Mobile Menu Widgets

    Search

    Let's be friends!

    If you visit Las Vegas, you can’t miss these sto If you visit Las Vegas, you can’t miss these stops. 🥹

[SAVE + SHARE]

The first time I visited Vegas was for my 21st birthday. I was a textbook city girl who just wanted to stay on the Las Vegas Strip, watch an entertaining show and spend an innocent $30 at the crazy casinos.

Fast forward to my last trip to Vegas and I wanted out of the city ASAP. 😂

The difference? This time, I knew the city had more to offer. Such as…

1. Valley Of Fire State Park.
2. Red Rock Canyon State Park.
3. Grand Canyon National Park.
4. Bryce Canyon National Park.
5. Zion National Park.
6. Death Valley National Park.
7. Joshua Tree National Park.

Save this list of Las Vegas things to do so you don’t make the same mistake I did. 🗺️

#lasvegasnevada #lasvegasnv #usaroadtrip #usroadtrip #travelreel
    Planning a trip doesn’t have to be stressful 🗣️

[SAVE + SHARE]

I get asked all the time how I plan trips. Planning trips can be stressful and overwhelming, but once you break the trip planning process down step by step, it is actually very simple.

So, here’s how to plan a road trip in just 3 easy steps!

Share this video with your road trip buddy to make planning a breeze. 🌬️

#traveltipsandtricks #traveltiptuesday #traveltip #roadtripready #usaroadtrip
    It was… A fun hike? 🥲 It was… A fun hike? 🥲
    Follow @indigosahara for more travel inspo ✈️ Follow @indigosahara for more travel inspo ✈️

10 non-negotiable USA highways to road trip before you die!

[SAVE + SHARE]

The US has some of the best road trips on Earth. You can’t miss a chance at taking a USA road trip across these iconic highways during your lifetime.

1. Highway 1.
2. U.S. Route 89.
3. Highway 42.
4. Hana Highway.
5. Alaska Highway.
6. Overseas Highway.
7. Route 66.
8. Blue Ridge Parkway.
9. Million Dollar Highway.
10. Going To The Sun Road.

BONUS. Don’t know which route to take? Here are a few of my all-time favorite spots!

11. White Pocket (U.S. Route 89).
12. Pipiwai Trail (Hana Highway).
13. Winding Road (Highway 42).
14. Grand Teton National Park (U.S. Route 89).
15. Zion National Park (U.S. Route 89).

Is a US road trip on your bucket list? Save these top 10 things to do in the USA so you don’t miss a thing.

#usatravel #usaroadtrip #usroadtrip #roadtripusa
    I can’t believe these places are real in the USA I can’t believe these places are real in the USA 🤯

[SAVE + SHARE]

I love finding unique destinations that make you feel like you’re on another planet. These are a few of my favorite places in the U.S. for far. 💫

5. Valley Of Fire State Park.
4. Death Valley National Park.
3. Bryce Canyon National Park.
2. Pink Lake.
1. Rainbow Mountains (Bentonite Hills).

If you visit any of these places, PLEASE be responsible and follow leave no trace principles to help preserve these otherworldly places.

#usaroadtrip #otherworldly #uniquedestinations #usroadtrip #bucketlisttravel
Travel Blog

Indigo Sahara

Travel Reviews, Guides, Tips & Travel Hacking

  • Destinations
    • North America
      • Canada
      • Haiti
      • United States
        • Arizona
        • Florida
        • Hawaii
        • Idaho
        • Illinois
        • Montana
        • Nevada
        • New York
        • Oregon
        • South Dakota
        • Utah
        • Washington
        • Wisconsin
        • Wyoming
        • National Parks
    • Europe
      • Faroe Islands
      • France
      • Iceland
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Norway
      • United Kingdom
    • Asia
      • Maldives
    • Oceania
      • French Polynesia
        • Bora Bora
        • Tahiti
      • Hawaii
    • South America
    • Hotel Reviews
  • Travel Tips
    • Budget Travel Tips
    • Travel Hacking
    • All Travel Tips
  • Travel Essentials
    • All Travel Essentials
    • Packing Lists
    • Gift Guides
  • Travel Photography
    • Camera Gear
    • Photography Tips
    • Photography Guides

5 Benefits of Cultural Competence in Everyday Life

By: Indigo Sahara, M.A. | Published: January 6, 2021 | Updated: February 4, 2024

Over the past decade, we have seen the conversation of culture, cultural competence and cultural diversity grow exponentially. However, between experiences of cultural injustice, cultural appropriation and redefining patriotism, discussing the benefits of cultural competence has somehow begun to trigger feelings of a burden rather than of excitement or appreciation.

Before you roll your eyes and completely dismiss the idea of becoming culturally competent, know that there are, in fact, personal reasons to become culturally competent.

Here are the 5 personal benefits of cultural competence:

5 Benefits of Cultural Competence in Everyday Life

Table of Contents

Toggle
  • 1. Job security.
  • 2. Your work will become more efficient and effective.
  • 3. You gain control over your actions, reactions and emotions.
  • 4. People will trust you more (inside and outside of work).
  • 5. You become more persuasive.

1. Job security.

In this day and age, you need cultural competence on your resume.

With a steady increase in globalization, companies will soon only be hiring individuals truly fit to work in a diverse environment. Large corporations, small businesses, healthcare providers, educators and freelancers alike are beginning to recognize the vitality of cultural competence.

With globalization comes unavoidable cross-cultural communication. With cross-cultural communication often comes misunderstandings, frustration and progress-less work.

Cultural competence allows you to communicate cross-culturally effectively, thus reducing misunderstandings and transforming you into a desirable, efficient, profitable employee.

2. Your work will become more efficient and effective.

As stated, when communicating with other cultures, conversations can quickly be misinterpreted and misunderstood. This leads to a variety of negative scenarios: task incompletion, task completion delay, taking offense, accidentally offending someone else, losing respect, losing authority and the list continues.

Tension then builds and effectively blocks work progress, leaving you and your team feeling unproductive and hopeless.

Cultural competence breaks the cycle of inefficiency by removing the barrier of communicating cross-culturally and propelling you to accomplish the vision at stake.

Even if you work in a monocultural environment, you were still raised in a different family with different peers from your coworkers. So, becoming culturally competent can help you avoid unnecessary misunderstandings here, too.

3. You gain control over your actions, reactions and emotions.

Nothing screams “freedom” like being able to recognize your culturally rooted emotional reactions that you didn’t even know existed.

Yes, that’s right. Every single action and reaction we take are constructs of (1) our conscience morality and (2) our home culture. We all have a conscience, but the ways in which we carry out our conscience are majorly influenced by how others around us do so.

Once you are able to recognize these cultural reactions, you can step back on the onset of a negative emotion (anger, frustration, hurt, fear, etc.) and ask yourself if you’re reacting to a moral issue or a cultural difference.

4. People will trust you more (inside and outside of work).

Trust is the foundational building block to essentially every aspect of life. Without some level of trust, no healthy relationships could exist, no products/services could ever be sold and functioning communities would cease to exist.

Mutual trust is imperative to survival.

Trust is one of the major benefits of cultural competence. The more you understand others, the better you can communicate with them. The better you can communicate with others, the less likely you are to accidentally frustrate or offend them.

The less frustration and offense, the more trust.

5. You become more persuasive.

Whether you’re pitching a huge corporate partnership in front of a panel of CEOs or just trying to convince your husband to do the dishes, persuasion is another critical element of everyday life.

We all know from high school English class that good rhetoric is a key component of a persuasive argument. What does good rhetoric consist of?

Common ground and an appeal to the audience.

So, what does good rhetoric have to do with cultural competence?

Cultural competence gives you the ability to better understand yourself in relation to other people. This means cultural competence gives you the ability to discover and communicate common ground in a way that appeals to your audience.

Therefore, cultural competence makes you more persuasive.

I won’t lie. Becoming culturally competent takes commitment, patience and practice, but the rewarding benefits of cultural competence prove worthy.

To begin your journey to become culturally competent today, subscribe below and be notified when new relevant articles are published.

5 Benefits of Cultural Competence in Everyday Life
5 personal benefits of becoming culturally competent in a globalized world | Indigo Sahara

By: Indigo Sahara, M.A.

About Indigo Sahara, M.A.

Indigo Sahara, M.A., is the founder and CEO of the Indigo Sahara travel blog. Since earning her master's degree in global leadership, she has traveled to more than 20 countries. Now, her goal is to make travel accessible to all by teaching others how to travel on a budget. She writes world travel guides and travel hacking tips weekly.

you’ll also love

find freedomHow Do You Find Freedom?
What Is Cultural Competence? (Definition And Overview)
bible restWhat Does The Bible Say About Vacation?

Get exclusive content.

Stay up-to-date & receive the latest travel guides and tips right to your inbox.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Janet says

    February 2, 2021 at 10:51 am

    I particularly like “learn to be persuasive”. Perhaps because I’m studying law but you’ve written a brilliant piece, well done!

    Reply
    • Indigo Sahara says

      February 3, 2021 at 1:17 am

      Haha! Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m so glad it resonates.

      Reply
  2. Youmna Rab says

    February 2, 2021 at 4:22 pm

    Great post! Cultural competence is so important not just at work but for our own personal self-development.

    Reply
    • Indigo Sahara says

      February 3, 2021 at 1:16 am

      Exactly, thank you! Sometimes we get so caught up in the world around us that we forget how cultural competence impacts our personal growth, too.

      Reply
  3. Moira says

    February 2, 2021 at 9:14 pm

    I especially liked the last one about being more persuasive! Great note there, I definitely think that’s useful.

    Reply
    • Indigo Sahara says

      February 3, 2021 at 1:13 am

      Absolutely, thank you! It truly goes to show how important cultural competence is in our own lives, too. Doesn’t it?

      Reply
  4. Susanne says

    February 3, 2021 at 7:48 pm

    Very insightful! And you definitely know how to apply your accumulated knowledge, too, as this blog post is 100% positively persuasive <3

    In March, I read a real page-turner on the topic at hand. It’s called The Culture Map by Erin Meyer. If you haven’t read it yet, I can truly recommend it.

    Love, Susanne

    Reply
    • Indigo Sahara says

      February 4, 2021 at 6:32 pm

      Thank you so much, Susanne!

      I actually just recently read “The Culture Map” as well — brilliant piece. I truly admire Meyer’s work. She also has a personality test you can take online that tells you where you lie on all of the culture mapping spectrums (persuasion, task/relationship-orientation, time-orientation, etc.). It’s super insightful. I definitely recommend taking it!

      Reply
  5. BayRosemary says

    February 4, 2021 at 11:25 pm

    Yes, cultural competence is very important work. Glad you are sharing this in the world!

    Reply
    • Indigo Sahara says

      February 5, 2021 at 8:33 pm

      Absolutely. It can be challenging, but it’s very important and worthwhile. Thank you for your kind words!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. What Does The Bible Say About Face Covering? Is It A Sin? says:
    January 13, 2021 at 10:52 am

    […] says nothing about modern face coverings explicitly, but we know from credible theology that adapting to cultural norms is an important part of Christian […]

    Reply
  2. What Is Cultural Competence? (Definition And Overview) says:
    March 12, 2021 at 3:30 am

    […] 5 Personal Benefits Of Cultural Competence […]

    Reply
  3. 15 Travel Gifts For Parents They Actually Want - Indigo Sahara says:
    August 10, 2022 at 2:59 pm

    […] my parents always prioritized family travel. From them, I learned how to travel on a budget, the importance of travel in everyday life, as well as how to make travel a priority as an […]

    Reply
  4. How To Travel More In 2022 says:
    August 12, 2022 at 9:52 pm

    […] Finally, traveling is actually an investment in yourself. Travel is an investment in your energy, your education, your relationships, your communication skills, your overall quality of life and more. In fact, traveling and the cultural competence that comes alongside has numerous benefits in everyday life. […]

    Reply
  5. 20 Bible Verses For Travel Anxiety - Indigo Sahara says:
    August 29, 2022 at 8:16 am

    […] who traveled around France, Belgium and Holland with me on the weekends. Because of these travels, I became more adaptable. I learned that I am capable of navigating foreign places, languages, experiences and […]

    Reply
  6. How To Start Traveling in 6 Easy Steps - Indigo Sahara says:
    November 7, 2022 at 8:16 am

    […] Of course, if you have a strong desire to travel somewhere else, you should definitely consider following this desire, as experiencing new cultures and gaining cultural competence provides a whole range of personal growth benefits. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Next Post >

How to Make the Most of Holidays Away from Family

Primary Sidebar

Meet Indigo

Meet Indigo
hello!

I'm Indigo, a 25-year-old full-time travel blogger who's on a mission to make travel accessible to all.

Read More

Let's Be Social

get exclusive content

Search The Blog

Pinterest

Facebook

Indigo Sahara

Catch Up On The Lastest Posts

Follow On Instagram

@indigosahara

If you visit Las Vegas, you can’t miss these sto If you visit Las Vegas, you can’t miss these stops. 🥹

[SAVE + SHARE]

The first time I visited Vegas was for my 21st birthday. I was a textbook city girl who just wanted to stay on the Las Vegas Strip, watch an entertaining show and spend an innocent $30 at the crazy casinos.

Fast forward to my last trip to Vegas and I wanted out of the city ASAP. 😂

The difference? This time, I knew the city had more to offer. Such as…

1. Valley Of Fire State Park.
2. Red Rock Canyon State Park.
3. Grand Canyon National Park.
4. Bryce Canyon National Park.
5. Zion National Park.
6. Death Valley National Park.
7. Joshua Tree National Park.

Save this list of Las Vegas things to do so you don’t make the same mistake I did. 🗺️

#lasvegasnevada #lasvegasnv #usaroadtrip #usroadtrip #travelreel
Planning a trip doesn’t have to be stressful 🗣️

[SAVE + SHARE]

I get asked all the time how I plan trips. Planning trips can be stressful and overwhelming, but once you break the trip planning process down step by step, it is actually very simple.

So, here’s how to plan a road trip in just 3 easy steps!

Share this video with your road trip buddy to make planning a breeze. 🌬️

#traveltipsandtricks #traveltiptuesday #traveltip #roadtripready #usaroadtrip
It was… A fun hike? 🥲 It was… A fun hike? 🥲
Follow @indigosahara for more travel inspo ✈️ Follow @indigosahara for more travel inspo ✈️

10 non-negotiable USA highways to road trip before you die!

[SAVE + SHARE]

The US has some of the best road trips on Earth. You can’t miss a chance at taking a USA road trip across these iconic highways during your lifetime.

1. Highway 1.
2. U.S. Route 89.
3. Highway 42.
4. Hana Highway.
5. Alaska Highway.
6. Overseas Highway.
7. Route 66.
8. Blue Ridge Parkway.
9. Million Dollar Highway.
10. Going To The Sun Road.

BONUS. Don’t know which route to take? Here are a few of my all-time favorite spots!

11. White Pocket (U.S. Route 89).
12. Pipiwai Trail (Hana Highway).
13. Winding Road (Highway 42).
14. Grand Teton National Park (U.S. Route 89).
15. Zion National Park (U.S. Route 89).

Is a US road trip on your bucket list? Save these top 10 things to do in the USA so you don’t miss a thing.

#usatravel #usaroadtrip #usroadtrip #roadtripusa
I can’t believe these places are real in the USA I can’t believe these places are real in the USA 🤯

[SAVE + SHARE]

I love finding unique destinations that make you feel like you’re on another planet. These are a few of my favorite places in the U.S. for far. 💫

5. Valley Of Fire State Park.
4. Death Valley National Park.
3. Bryce Canyon National Park.
2. Pink Lake.
1. Rainbow Mountains (Bentonite Hills).

If you visit any of these places, PLEASE be responsible and follow leave no trace principles to help preserve these otherworldly places.

#usaroadtrip #otherworldly #uniquedestinations #usroadtrip #bucketlisttravel

Footer

Blog

  • Destinations
  • Travel Tips
  • Travel Essentials
  • Travel Photography
  • Camera Gear

Info

  • Home
  • About
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Work With Me
  • Portfolio
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
  • Refund And Returns Policy

stay in the know

Copyright Indigo Sahara © 2025 · Theme by 17th Avenue

We use cookies to provide you with a great user experience. By using our website, you accept our use of cookies.Accept