How Important is Intelligence to Success?
Success can have many different meanings- and success to one person does not necessarily qualify success to another. There are different types of success because of the different compartments of our lives, but ultimately all success is linked with happiness and satisfaction. Success in a business sense is constantly debated by experts, lecturers and entrepreneurs, many of which arrive at the conclusion that success is down to a combination of preparation, experience, acting on opportunities and using persistence wisely. I guess you could say that success comes with using the energy of youth and the wisdom of age in the most appropriate measures.
There have also been lengthy debates about the influence of the right and left brain, nature and nurture, and all the other ‘yin and yang’ aspects of being human and being successful. The Intelligent Quotient, or IQ, was first developed by French Psychologist Alfred Binet to standardise the measurement of child intelligence in French Schools. It was later adopted by the U.S who further developed the test. The score was calculated by dividing the test taker’s mental age by their chronological age, and then multiplying this number by 100. For example, a child with a mental age of 12 and a chronological age of 10 would have an IQ of 120 (12 /10 x 100). This might seem limited, and has come up against contrasting views, but is still widely used as a way of measuring child intelligence, especially in the US.
Efforts have recently been made to introduce a new way of measuring intelligence and it’s contribution to success. Keld Jensen, a well-known speaker who talks about how to be successful, has come up with the EQ (Emotional Intelligence, MQ (Moral Intelligence) and BQ (Body Intelligence) as measures of success. EQ is about 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. MQ directly follows EQ as it deals with integrity, responsibility, sympathy, and forgiveness. Keeping commitments, maintaining your integrity, and being honest are crucial to gain a high moral intelligence. Finally, BQ reflects what you know about your body, how you feel about it and take care of it. Body intelligence ‘absolutely affects your work because it largely determines your feelings, thoughts, self-confidence, state of mind, and energy levels’.
Hmmm… well, apart from the fact that the letters EQ, MQ and BQ don’t actually translate as intelligent thinking (what does the Q stand for??) It’s true that people need far more than logical intelligence to interact, gain trust and conduct business. The skill of knowing what makes people tick takes far more than rational thinking.