IQ or EQ - Do you really know the score? Part I
Posted on July 17, 2017 by Cheryl Keates, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
EQ can change and grow; it can be learned
Before exploring your EQ, let’s start where it all began in 1904. Do you know your IQ score? Do you know what IQ is? Your IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is an assessment of your ability to think and reason, to learn. Your IQ score reflects your intelligence level compared to the majority of people in your own age group. Easey-peasey, right?
Well, in the U.S., someone who doesn’t know who Abe Lincoln was is probably not so smart. But in Japan, that example doesn’t say anything about a person’s intelligence. Location, society, even culture within that society play a big part in measuring and establishing intelligence. Not so easy. Right.
So let’s do it strictly by the numbers. With a score of 140+ being genius/near genius, 110 – 139 superior/very superior, 90 – 109 average/normal and below 89 ranging from dull to feeble, we pretty much know who’s going to attain great success in life and who’s not. From our earliest schooling, we were given a number and a rank and lined up to go out there and find our place in the world. Name, rank and IQ number, please.
But a funny thing happened on our way to life. Some of us, farther back in the pack, grabbed the red crayon and began drawing out of line. Many of us stepped out of line, altogether, and began running to the best institutions of higher learning and then to top jobs and fabulous careers in all areas of endeavor! Whaaaa?
What went wrong; or right, depending upon your number? Why were the normals out-performing the superiors? Why were the geniuses dropping out? Why were the dulls starting to shine? What happened? Research happened. Enlightenment happened. Clarity happened: extraordinary achievement depends upon MANY things.
According to TalentSmart, in 1995, EQ (Emotional Intelligence) was first reported to the public: “people with average IQs outperform those with the highest IQs 70% of the time.” Whoa. Academia exploded. Decades of research finally denied IQ as being the “sole source of success.” EQ has become the critical factor in determining the rock star from the also-ran. Emotional Intelligence has become, what TalentSmart calls, “the other kind of smart!”
The best part? unlike your IQ – where your score remains the same throughout your lifetime! – your Emotional Intelligence can change! It can grow. It can improve. It can improve your career, your relationships, your life. With TalentSmart studies showing that EQ is the “strongest predictor of performance…90% of top performers are also high in emotional intelligence… (today) EQ is used by 75% of Fortune 500 companies.”
So – do you know your EQ score? Do you know what EQ is?
Cheryl Keates does. As a certified Emotional Intelligence Coach, Cheryl specializes in assessing and enhancing your EQ. Please read “IQ or EQ? Do you really know the score?” Part II
