Technical Aptitude alone is insufficient
Jimmy Connors, winner of 109 professional singles tennis titles says, “There’s a thin line between being #1 or #100, and mostly it’s mental.”
In his well-researched book, Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman shows that it’s our attitude more than our aptitude that determines our altitude. While our society lauds intellectual giants and power, Goleman’s research concludes, “At best, IQ contributes about 20 percent to the factors that determine life success, which leaves 80 percent to other forces.”
Other EQ researchers, Robert Cooper and Ayman Sawaf consider this too conservative. In their book, Executive EQ: Emotional Intelligence in Leadership and Organizations, they write, “— IQ may be related to as little as 4 percent of real-world success — over 90 percent may be related to other forms of intelligence — it is emotional intelligence, not IQ or raw brain power alone, that underpins many of the best decisions, the most dynamic and profitable organizations, and the most satisfying and successful lives.
Malcolm Higgs and Vic Dulewicz set out to disprove this “faddish idea” relenting after their research that, Emotional Intelligence is of far greater importance than IQ and something they term “management quotient”.
There’s a growing consensus in the academic and popular literature that our attitude and our mindset are more important than our technical capability that make a difference to our success. As Zig Ziglar puts it, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”
Difference makers have a better attitude
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