Go beyond IQ & EQ, it is time for GQ

The world has changed dramatically in the last couple of years along with the way we are seeing the future. How we learn, process, and deliver all depends on how we can process our tangible and intangible qualities.

Dan Goleman, then a columnist for?The New York Times, was the first person to popularize the case against IQ as the ultimate measure of success in his bestselling book, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Matters More Than IQ.? He argued, based on the research of Peter Salovey and John Mayer, that IQ accounts for only 20% of a person’s success in life.?A growing body of evidence has confirmed his hypothesis subsequently.?

IQ, the most common measure of cognitive intelligence, became the basic standard in Western society of how smart someone is, and how successful they can be. In some ways, it became a kind of cultural obsession.?But that was before this whole body of research around Emotional Intelligence (EQ) came to be accepted.

It is now believed that EQ is twice as predictive of performance as IQ.?EQ essentially measures the ability to identify your own and others’ emotions, and recognize one’s own behavioural patterns. In many ways, it indicates the skill of seeing and weighing decisions based on emotional connection to yourself and others.?

Breaking the glass ceiling with GQ:?need for a critical change in approach

There is growing realisation that the workplace of tomorrow requires more than IQ, EQ or even CQ (Cultural Intelligence) for that matter. With the imperative to tap into the latent potential of women and get their active participation in the workforce, organisations are under increasing pressure to focus on Workplace Gender Equity. In such an environment Gender Intelligence (GQ) is an extremely critical quality for both men and women to succeed in the workforce.

Gender Intelligence is about improving communication between men and women in organizations around the globe. It results in superior innovative thinking, more effective problem solving and decision-making, greater team productivity, and more enduring customer relationships.

In the past, we’ve operated from two fundamental beliefs. The first is that balanced gender representation should be achieved in business, government, and education. Achieving that goal requires viewing both genders as identical on the inside. The reach for equal representation has been a tangible and worthy demonstration in the search for gender equity. However, it has been found that equalizing the numbers doesn’t necessarily result in gender balance. Similarly, treating everyone the same would appear to help eradicate bias, but doesn’t result in gender equality.

Despite years of laws, quotas, diversity training, and legal expenses aimed toward equalizing pay, opportunities, and working conditions between the sexes, the glass ceiling remains firmly intact. For too long, companies have played the “numbers game”— attempting to tackle gender imbalance by forcing affirmative action policies and numeric standards on organizations to increase the representation of women in management. Yet, these efforts have rarely been sustained or proven to be as effective as intended.

What if the solution isn’t eliminating the differences between men and women themselves, but instead learning how to recognize, value, and leverage those differences? This is a view strongly advocated by Cari E. Guittard, Professor of Women’s Leadership, Corporate Diplomacy, and International Negotiations at the HULT International Business School based in Massachusetts. Prof. Guittard says that “Gender intelligence is about understanding, recognizing, and valuing the differences between men and women. It’s about appreciating those differences as strengths, which are highly complementary.”

When men and women understand the nature of their gender differences, their lens broadens. They not only gain greater appreciation for each other’s behaviour, but also learn more about their own. GQ exposes and eliminates individual blind spots.

This approach to breaking through the glass ceiling for women shaped by a greater understanding of our gender differences instead of trying to ignore them can be revolutionary and help provide the proverbial giant leap forward in the realm of workplace gender equity.

Moving from compliance to choice

In a ground-breaking comprehensive analysis captured in their book, Gender Intelligence: Breakthrough Strategies for Increasing Diversity and Improving Your Bottom Line, first published in 2014, authors Barbara Annis and Keith Merron provide a deeper understanding on the multiplicity of forces that have combined to create and perpetuate gender inequality. Gender Intelligence exposes common false assumptions that prevent men and women from successfully performing together at work — myths exacerbated by worn-out theories of gender blindness and sameness thinking.

A small but growing number of courageous, leading-edge companies have broken through the barriers to successfully advance women, making the remarkable transformation from compliance to choice — from pressure to preference — and show how it can be done in any business.

Gender Intelligence is a gateway leadership skill. along with cross-cultural and cross-generational intelligence, it is a skill that provides the foundation for effective global leadership and strategic influence.

Developing GQ is a corporate and individual responsibility

Developing gender intelligent skillsets and practices among the workforce will make an enormous impact for businesses. This is not something that can be achieved by hosting a seminar or prescribing a book to read or a course to attend.

Companies that practice Gender Intelligence and sustain a culture of inclusiveness that values “difference thinking” in teamwork, problem solving, and decision-making grow in their global competitiveness. They secure and retain the best talent, make better strategic decisions, produce more relevant products and services that mirror the needs and expectations of the marketplace, and, as a result, achieve superior financial results.

From an individual’s perspective, developing gender-intelligent skillsets and practices will have a huge bearing in one’s career, especially as one progresses through management and into leadership roles. When you start to view the differences between men and women through the lens of strength, you can leverage them to your competitive advantage.

Regardless of how one does it, we all need to do more to correct stereotypes that are pervasive and corrosive. And we also need to do more to?underscore the unique strengths of every individual?and their contributions — men and women alike.