Keld Jensen over at Forbes.com wrote a great piece called

Intelligence Is Overrated: What You Really Need To Succeed

I encourage you to click on over and read it in its entirety, but if you’re time-strapped here’s the takeaways:

• While we think of the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) as being the strongest indicator of success, it’s not the ONLY one.
• Research carried out by the Carnegie Institute of Technology shows that 85 percent of your financial success is due to skills in “human engineering,” your personality and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. Shockingly, only 15 percent is due to technical knowledge.
• Instead of exclusively focusing on your conventional intelligence quotient, you should make an investment in strengthening your EQ (Emotional Intelligence), MQ (Moral Intelligence), and BQ (Body Intelligence).

I couldn’t agree more. These more “touchy feely” success factors are what make or break people, products and brands. I bet you can think of a couple of examples from today’s headlines where charisma beat out smarts. Here’s why:

Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

Without this you’re nothing but another talking head. EQ is that little voice in our head that tells us to listen more than we talk, to look for the win/win when negotiating, and allows us to connect in an authentic way with our audience. To be a true leader you must score highly in this department.

Moral Intelligence (MQ)

This is what keeps word of mouth referrals coming, recommendations stacking up, and you “in demand”. Your MQ directly correlates with your level of credibility. The more credibility you have the more paying customers, invites to serve as an “expert”, and partnership offers with other highly reputable companies. The golden rule applies here, “Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you.”

Body Intelligence (BQ)

This is the realization that “charity begins at home.” If you want to save the world, you must save yourself first. Keep your stress in check, exercise more-drink less, and appreciate that some of your best ideas come after a well-deserved vacation. All the success in the world means nothing if you don’t have your health.

Bottom Line

It doesn’t matter how smart you are if nobody likes you, trusts you or you’re too sick to even make the meeting. The greatest ideas in the world fall silent if they can’t be communicated effectively. Sure you can hire a great spokesperson, but the trail will always lead back to YOU. If you come across like a greasy snake oil salesman on his deathbed all bets are off.

People “buy” from people- not IQ scores.