What is emotional intelligence as applied to business?

Quick answer: Most of the world fixates on IQ (or intelligence quotient) in determining how smart an individual is. Noted physicist Albert Einstein was said to have an IQ of 160. Composer J.S. Bach apparently had an IQ of 165. The average person has an IQ of between 90 and 110. IQ tests, however, have a strong bias towards mathematics, spatial reasoning and pattern recognition. These tests, therefore, are dreadfully one-dimensional and lackluster when it comes to measuring a person’s overall intelligence and effectiveness. Emotional intelligence (EQ) helps to peel back some of the layers (though not all). It describes how in touch someone is with their emotions, their ability to express them (when and where it’s appropriate) and is even tied to how well they handle interpersonal relationships.

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Why is Emotional Intelligence Important?

As a business owner, you’re having to make difficult decisions at every turn.

While navigating a variety of opportunities and challenges, if your EQ is low, you’re going to get overwhelmed and find yourself unable to perform at the level you need to be effective.

You’ll make decisions impulsively without weighing or even identifying your options. This can sometimes work out for the better, but it’s fair to say the will-power drained, 2 AM domain buying crowd feels it’s less likely.

Further, as you look to scale your business, you’re likely going to be working with a team made up of a variety of personalities.

On the scale of “too nice” to “obsessive micromanager”, entrepreneurs often find themselves closer to either pole than the middle.

After all, if they are serious, they are the most excited and invested in their business and will do anything in their power to achieve success. No one inside or outside the company will demonstrate that level of passion or dedication without a clear understanding of the vision and impact.

In the early stages of a business (before managers take the helm of specific departments), an entrepreneur must be able to relate to their team members as individuals and be mindful of how to best communicate with each to achieve desired outcomes.

Are There Other Layers to Human Intelligence?

What’s notably absent from most tests is a means of measuring one’s creative ability.

School taught us that there are four core subjects (Language, Mathematics, Science and History). Of course, absent are Art, Music and other subjects that connect more directly to one’s creative ability. These should be core subjects just as much as the pillar four, but if anything, the education system is deprioritizing them.

An argument could certainly be made, however, that it would be challenging if not impossible to measure one’s creative capacity accurately, as art is truly subjective, and one’s experience of a specific painting, song or photograph isn’t always going to translate into another’s experience of it.

Originally published at https://davidandrewwiebe.com on January 15, 2020.