In addition, cross-cultural competence may require changing what people think and say and how people behave (Barrera, 2010).There are three vital elements that are necessary to develop cross cultural competence: self-awareness, knowledge of each culture, and skills that enable the individual to engage in successful interactions.However, complete cultural competence is only achieved when people who have been privileged recognize that their privileged status is based on systems that disadvantage others (and such people work against those systems).