Timeout for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea

Leadership lessons I learned from my seat on the bench #6

IQ or MQ. What’s important to you?

Would you rather have a teammate with a high intelligence quotient or a high maturity quotient? Of course, I can be greedy and tell you I want a person with both a high IQ and a high MQ. Those folks are hard to find. I ask you to think about what is important to you and then go out and find that person who fits your requirements.

When I was hiring teachers, I had set up a full set of questions to ascertain a person’s IQ. I was and still am convinced that we need to have smart teachers in our schools. However, if I was hiring someone today, I might scrutinize any prospective teacher to determine his or her maturity quotient.

As we prepare for the Super Bowl, we had several great weekends of professional football highlighting the NFL’s new corps of quarterbacks. Even for folks that may not be fans, it was great to see players such as Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Josh Allen take center stage.

They are all very gifted athletes and talented quarterbacks. And I believe each one of these young players possesses an uncanny level of maturity. To me, these players possess not only the physical skills that I speak of, each one is mature beyond his years. They also have shown that they possess impressive leadership skills.

I believe each of these players possesses common sense. They can make mature adult decisions. Each has exhibited a high degree of self-discipline in how each one approaches the game. Of course, they are all guilty of trying to do too much in a game. This will usually get them in trouble and they have to know how to perform within their own ability. But I can live with that risk-taking quality.

These high MQ quarterbacks act well even in the face of others, perhaps acting badly. They treat others with respect.

I am amazed at how much resilience they show. When they make a mistake, they seem like they can quickly forget about it and move on. Once mistake will not define them. And when you hear them speak, you quickly feel their authenticity. They seemed to have figured out how to deal with the real world.

I challenge you that the next time you hire someone, try to get a read on his or her MQ. I think in the world of schools, having a high MQ trumps having a high IQ. I want people on my team that exhibit this high MQ, because these are the teammates that are winners, the real champions.