EQ or IQ - What’s more important to be successful?
Success doesn’t count in money, they say, but it does count in what you achieve over the years. Whether you escalated your IQ or EQ also counts. Intelligence quotient can make you a knowledgeable person but emotional quotient is what makes you a complete person. Lack of empathy, for instance, can take from you what your intellectual acquaintance has brought you.
Emotional quotient refers to your understanding of your emotions as well as the emotions of those you work with. Better EQ helps you coordinate better in any environment, even if you are new to a workplace you have it in you to develop understanding and settle well in there.
Intelligence quotient, on the other hand, refers to your intellectual knowledge as well as that of your work and company’s situations so that you are able to take smart decisions for the betterment of your business. The way you comprehend, construe and carry out work based on your knowledge decides your IQ. Now the question remains – which of these is more important to be successful at work?
IQ:1. Cognitive abilities: Your cognitive abilities and in-depth knowledge on the subject is very important to ascertain a position in the company. It is what determines how apt you are for a certain position. Your capabilities for the role are determined by gauging your cognitive abilities which makes your IQ very important. With a higher IQ you are more likely to have better understanding of the situation and could deduce ways to tackle it.
2. Confidence: If you are certain of your in-depth knowledge on a subject, you are more likely to be more confident and approachable. You won’t shy away from being in the centre of things which is important to be successful. You work hard and are capable of standing tall to take the credits for it – that is the image we would have of a successful person. Having higher IQ makes you more confident that would otherwise be which makes IQ more important than EQ.
3. Logical reasoning: The ability to reason in front of 15 others who counter your decision comes from immense acquisition of knowledge and reasoning skills. If you can get your point across in a group of powerful people, you earn yourself a place. Your IQ helps you secure this position that you have dreamt of. You cannot apply logical reasons with your emotional side. You need to be practical and take decisions based on the benefits of your company. It has to be entirely professional.
4. Your heart can mislead you: You want the promotion for yourself. You know you are more capable than the others in the same race and yet one of them is a dear friend to you and you know that his financial crisis is more harsh than yours at present. What would you do? Your IQ will tell you to give in your best shot for the promotion but your EQ will stop you from doing that and ask you to retreat so that you miss the opportunity for your friend. This is good for neither you nor the company. The company just lost someone more apt and intelligent for the position.
5. EQ is good only when it comes with IQ: EQ alone cannot stand up to the expectations at work. You wouldn’t be in that place if you relied completely on EQ. Your IQ is what got to there and EQ is just effective when it comes added with IQ. They complement each other and help the one with IQ achieve higher stances in life while balancing his power with responsibilities and compassion for those working with you. However, since EQ is worthless with IQ, there is no reason why it should be given more importance than IQ.
EQ:1. Being book smart is not enough: Only knowledge is of no use when you don’t know how and when to utilize it. You could simply misuse your wealth and become bankrupt if you lack the ability to keep a balance in your life. To help you sustain and survive the harsh pressures at work, EQ is extremely important. It makes you what you are – a lack of EQ makes you an insensible person while its presence makes you more responsible and savvy.
2. Filters: So you scored well in your tests and carry certificates that flaunt your higher grades but so do the thousand others who are in the race to achieve the same success you dream of. What do you think the employers do to filter out the best from this lot? That is where group discussions and personal interviews come into the scene. They are meant to check your EQ which finally decides which ones are dependable and could be taken forth with them. Most people get rejected out from this zone. It is not because they lack IQ; it is because they were low on EQ.
3. IQ is just a set standard: The standard tests for IQ are just meant to generally check your book smartness. They just check to see if you remember what you read and can implement it in twisted questions. However, they are still another test just like the ones you faced at school and colleges. They cannot test your job performance or whether you are capable of a certain position or not. They don’t make you any different from the million other engineers, for instance.
4. Interactions are based on EQ: Your interactions with employers and clients are based on your EQ and not your IQ. They define how well you are able to keep them pinned to your conversations. You don’t get them snoring during your presentation and you could make the cut. High ideals and big words do not steal the show; it is your ability to make people believe in your easy and understandable words that does the trick.
IQ and EQ both have their own importance in the corporate world. With IQ you would not make it till there and without EQ you would fail to survive. The trick is to develop a healthy balance of the two. They are both important for success. Spare time for both and you are sure to emerge a winner.
Only IQ can make you arrogant, the kind of people employees and employers hate. It is EQ that would keep you down to earth, make you loved by everyone.
Only EQ, on the other hand, can make you too easy a prey to the big bad world around you. If you fail to use your intelligence you could be tricked into investing in scams and relying upon crooked kind of people.
