The new Q - SQ

Wait.. before you start wondering, I am referring to Social Quotient, not Singapore Airlines :)

So here's my theory, and remember, you heard it here first on Grouseland!

When it first started, there was IQ - a measure of a person's intelligence, and obviously, what people found out were that the really smartass people in the world, had IQ levels that were off the charts. :) Jolly well and good for these smartass... except people started to realize, hey, for all that they have high IQ, e.g. they can understand the blackhole, and all that crap, these people seemed to be emotionally challenge.

Therefore, EQ was born! Emotional Quotient, the ability to identify with people and to display empathy, and connect with people. So that's why people who are successful in business, etc, are not necessarily high in IQ, but were necessarily high in EQ.

Jolly well and good. And there another smarty pants decided, hey, you know what's really important? It is Adversity Quotient. The ability to never say die regardless of circumstances, and that's how they achieve success. So these people, are the top founders/CEOs, the people who will, regardless of the odds stacked against them, succeed.

Genesis of the 4th quotient:

And during one of those tests that we did as a department, can't recall the test, but it involves you being more or less of selected bird types - Eagle, Owl, Peacock and Dove. Now, I am in the line of customer service and training, and my boss, rightly so, is the customer's advocate, managing both complaints that come in, as well as processes or projects that drive improvements for the customer.

Okay. Then we realized, she had almost 100% Eagle (meaning she is extremely result focused and oriented)... and her two tiny birds were Owl and Peacock and NO DOVE. It was actually in line with what we know of her, as a person with relatively low empathy, the type who would tell you that you have been taking too many MCs (medical leave for readers not from my country), instead of being concerned that you have been ill for such a long period of time.

And so, after the results were released, to a certain extent, she was disturbed by the results. You should have some basic level of nurturing and love to help or care for others (dove's traits) if you are in the service line. Youl almost have to have some, else, why the hell are you in the business of trying to help people? Anyway, subsequently she went around announcing that she has thought about it, and she deems herself to have very high EQ, regardless of the result of this test.

Now... moving on back to why I started this long story... I was obviously, extremely pissed off just a couple of days ago as having been ill for about 4 months (it's a bloody tough flu virus I am telling you! I have never been sick for such a long period of time. NEVER!)... I had an MC for the day, and I had still reported for work, as I had a meeting that I was committed to attending, and a couple of work items that I wanted to get off my plate before the weekend. So at about 4+pm, after clearing most of the work items, and the meeting was over and done with, I passed my medical Cert to the dept secretary, and walked over to the boss's desk to inform her that, actually, I was on medical leave for the day, and will be going off shortly - BAM! I got slapped with a - "you have been taking a lot of medical leave recently"... DAMMIT! Anyway, it was my 2nd day of medical leave for the year, so if you are counting, that averages out to once per month (since it's only February now)...

So I started thinking, how can this lady claim to have EQ, when she doesn't even have basic human empathy? I am rather obiously ill, I had already been at work 3/4 of the day, despite being deemed ill enough by a doctor who has granted me leave, and still you want to get on my case about constantly being on medical leave (a false accusation at that)?

And I was thinking, well, you cannot deem her to have low EQ, since she is extremely sociable, gregarious, and witty. She definitely has high IQ, and AQ... but I am adamant, that her EQ is LOW. Nobody with high EQ would tell her staff off for being sick. How does one stop being sick? Who would want to be sick? That was the most ridiculous thing! (amongst many others, but of course, you wouldn't want me to flood the entry even more with complaints.)...

So, on the trip back home (after working the full day I have to add), I realised, there should be a new quotient - Social Quotient. She is good at socializing, she can outdrink most people, joke and laugh. But she has low EQ. She doesn't want to, and is unable to understand what goes through other people's mind. She is unable to display empathy, and when she tries to be concerned, you know she is not sincere, and she is doing what she thinks needs to be done, to drive up her employee engagement score. Every single action, has a motive, and it is not borne out of high EQ, and that she understands or empathises, or wants to understand any of the people around her. Mind you, I am not just referring to the staff reporting to her.

She is not sincere to all around her (probably other than her family), and if trying to understand a person's needs or feelings is a sign of high EQ, then she has none. But she is socially competent (not some weirdo outcast), so... I hereby introduce you the 4th quotient - Social Quotient.

Social Quotient - A measure of how well a person interacts and communicates with others in a social environment. (TM GROUCH)

So whoever smartier pants who is reading this and is planning to do research and earn tons with the new quotient - remember, you read it here first, and royalties/licensing would be most appreciated!!