Leaders Now Require 3D Intelligence

You have all heard of IQ or Intelligence Quotient.  And I am sure you have heard of the second dimensional quotient leaders need to have, EQ or Emotional Intelligence.  However, to succeed today and build a culture that is engaged, purposeful, inspired and customer centric (what I call an EPIC Culture) leaders need to add and nurture a third dimension to their skill set…  CQ or Clarity Quotient.

What is Intelligence Quotient (IQ)?

All leaders need to have an IQ that is above average in order to excel in their particular functional discipline.  An above average IQ is considered as anything above 110.  Einstein’s IQ was 160.  Steve Jobs’ IQ was measured as 160 when he was in the fourth grade.

Leaders use their IQ to analyze data and solve problems.  An organization’s culture though, is not a result of a leader’s IQ.  In fact, some of the worst cultures I have gone in to fix were led by CEP’s with Genius or Mensa level IQ’s.  They were smart people but were disasters when it came to engaging the hearts and minds of their people.

What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)?

EQ or Emotional Intelligence is something that cannot be measured, and it is often said that a particular leader either “has it or he doesn’t.”  Emotional Intelligence is not innate.  It needs to be nurtured and it develops at different rates depending on whether you are a female or male.  The prefrontal cortex (said to be the home of our EQ) fully develops in females at 25 years of age and 32 in males (sorry guys… we are slower to mature).  However, even with a fully developed brain, we need to nurture our ability to be aware of how certain events make us feel, how we choose to react to those events, the level to which we are able to empathize with others and our ability to self-motivate ourselves.  EQ is a significant leadership must-have to building an EPIC Culture.

Leaders with high levels of EQ have the ability to relate to and connect with their team members, however, there is still something that today’s leader needs to develop.  I call it Clarity Quotient or CQ.  Millennials (the largest demographic group in history and the up and coming Generation Z,) have a key difference to the single-minded career focused Baby Boomers and the ‘Disruptors’ of Generation X.  Their key differentiator is that they come to the workplace with a complete understanding and burning desire to work with an organization that believes in the same thing that they do and has a clear and compelling purpose.  The only way a culture is able to deliver that for the team is through a leader’s Clarity Quotient.

What is Clarity Quotient (CQ)?

Simple.  It’s a leader ability to:

1. Create clarity of:
   1. Three clear Core Values that drive an organization’s behavior.
   2. A purpose or ‘why’ they, as a team and business, do what they do. The clarity of purpose comes from a short and compelling (7 words or less) statement of why they do what they do (beyond making a profit).
   3. A vision that defines what mountain the team is attempting to climb. The vision is a destination they are working towards.  It is measureable and has a timeline (between 12 and 36 months).  It is also stated in seven words or less.
   4. Three simple strategies for how they are going to achieve the vision, and one of those strategies is ALWAYS about the culture they want to have.
2. Communicate clarity. Leaders need to constantly and consistently communicate the ‘story’ of where the team is going.  Team members need to hear a message between 7 and 10 times before they start to believe it.  All forms of communication need to be used (social, blog, email, face-to-face, video, etc.). What needs to be communicated is the purpose, vision, strategies and individual team member’s roles and responsibilities. Oh, and did I say that it has to be done constantly?
3. Reinforce clarity. Leaders need to get really good at:
   1. Catching people doing things right.
   2. Managing the plan like a project with regular check-in’s and adjustments.
   3. Constantly ‘walking the floor’ to personally connect with team members at all levels.
   4. Celebrating small wins.

This is the new paradigm.  Being a 3-D leader is the new must-have in order to build an EPIC Culture and achieve growth in revenue, customer loyalty and profitability.

Robert Murray is a Vancouver, BC based Business Strategy Consultant, #1 Best Selling Author, and International Keynote Speaker. For further advice, insight and inspiration on how to unlock your inner leader, follow Robert on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Click here to get his weekly Tuesday Tune Up blog posts straight to your inbox.