What are the elements of success?
Albert Einstein’s was estimated
at 160, Madonna’s is 140, and John F. Kennedy’s was only 119, but as it turns
out, your IQ score pales in comparison with your EQ, MQ, and BQ scores when it
comes to predicting your success and professional achievement.
IQ tests are used as an indicator
of logical reasoning ability and technical intelligence. A high IQ is often a
prerequisite for rising to the top ranks of business today. It is necessary,
but it is not adequate to predict executive competence and corporate success.
By itself, a high IQ does not guarantee that you will stand out and rise above
everyone else.
Carnegie Institute of Technology carried out a research which shows that 85 percent of your financial
success is due to skills in “human engineering,” your personality and ability
to communicate, negotiate, and lead. Shockingly, only 15 percent is due to
technical knowledge. Additionally, Nobel Prize winning Israeli-American
psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, found that people would rather do business with
a person they like and trust rather than someone they don’t, even if the
likeable person is offering a lower quality product or service at a higher
price.
With this in mind, instead of
exclusively focusing on your conventional intelligence quotient, you should
make an investment in strengthening your EQ (Emotional Intelligence), MQ (Moral
Intelligence), and BQ (Body Intelligence). These concepts may be elusive and
difficult to measure, but their significance is far greater than IQ.
Emotional Intelligence
EQ is the most well known of the
three, and in brief it is about: being aware of your own feelings and those of
others, regulating these feelings in yourself and others, using emotions that
are appropriate to the situation, self-motivation, and building relationships.
Top Tip for Improvement: First,
become aware of your inner dialogue. It helps to keep a journal of what
thoughts fill your mind during the day. Stress can be a huge killer of
emotional intelligence, so you also need to develop healthy coping techniques
that can effectively and quickly reduce stress in a volatile situation.
Moral Intelligence
MQ directly follows EQ as it
deals with your integrity, responsibility, sympathy, and forgiveness. The way
you treat yourself is the way other people will treat you. Keeping commitments,
maintaining your integrity, and being honest are crucial to moral intelligence.
Top Tip for Improvement: Make
fewer excuses and take responsibility for your actions. Avoid little white
lies. Show sympathy and communicate respect to others. Practice acceptance and
show tolerance of other people’s shortcomings. Forgiveness is not just about
how we relate to others; it’s also how you relate to and feel about yourself.
Body Intelligence
Lastly, there is your BQ, or body
intelligence, which reflects what you know about your body, how you feel about
it, and take care of it. Your body is constantly telling you things; are you
listening to the signals or ignoring them? Are you eating energy-giving or energy-draining
foods on a daily basis? Are you getting enough rest? Do you exercise and take
care of your body? It may seem like these matters are unrelated to business
performance, but your body intelligence absolutely affects your work because it
largely determines your feelings, thoughts, self-confidence, state of mind, and
energy level.
Top Tip for Improvement: At least
once a day, listen to the messages your body is sending you about your health.
Actively monitor these signals instead of going on autopilot. Good nutrition,
regular exercise, and adequate rest are all key aspects of having a high BQ.
Monitoring your weight, practicing moderation with alcohol, and making sure you
have down time can dramatically benefit the functioning of your brain and the
way you perform at work.
What You Really Need To Succeed ?
It doesn’t matter if you did not
receive the best academic training from a top university. A person with less
education who has fully developed their EQ, MQ, and BQ can be far more
successful than a person with an impressive education who falls short in these
other categories.
Yes, it is certainly good to be
an intelligent, rational thinker and have a high IQ; this is an important
asset. But you must realize that it is not enough. Your IQ will help you
personally, but EQ, MQ, and BQ will benefit everyone around you as well. If you
can master the complexities of these unique and often under-rated forms of
intelligence, research tells us you will achieve greater success and be
regarded as more professionally competent and capable.
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