IQ to understand, EQ to manage

I read about this interesting summary "IQ to understand, EQ to manage" a few days ago under this post. 

It's been a serious debate between two gurus (Adam Grant vs Daniel Goleman) about the importance of having IQ (Intelligence Quotient) or EQ (Emotional Quotient). You could read about the debate in the link. 

After I have been working for several years as an educator, I have learned that I cannot rely solely on IQ. It is not about being talented only, but everyone needs this EQ to have a sustainable career. Some of my bosses with high EQ were successful in managing people and limited resources at the university to reach the university goals. However, some other talented line managers with numerous achievements were rarely remembered for their accomplishments but more likely from their particular behaviour to peer colleagues, staffs and students. They were efficient managers, but quite unpleasant to work within the long term.

The post has also pointed out a research on how EQ works as a strong predictor of success or performance at work. The managers with high IQ and experience but low EQ had a failure rate of as high as 25% on their projects, on the other hand, the managers with high EQ but high IQ or experience showed a less failure rate of 3-4%. It seems that a combination of high IQ and EQ is potent to get a high standard of success in any project. 

When I took a survey about my current project (internationalization), which is involving several line managers at different levels (university, Faculty, Department and Study Program), I've found that most of the managers were friendly and intelligent people. Most of them had pleasant countenances and friendly gestures to other people from different background. They like to help and collaborate, providing useful answers to my list of questions. 

I noticed that most of them were successful in other areas, such as research, management, or community empowerment, but don't like to talk about those achievements, unless they were related with my project. The managers were enthusiastic about this area (internationalization) and showed their point of views independently based on their excellent understanding of our workplace management style. They shared their best strategies and practices on how to handle a problematic situation or resentment from academic and administrative staffs regarding the introduction of new policies. I've found most of their advice was logical and adaptable to our current university situation.

All in all, now I could see why IQ is essential to understand the current situation (and provide a solution), but EQ is needed to manage a complex situation in the workplace. 

Pekanbaru,