People with an IQ of 120 are rated as being the best leaders

[Aletheia]

Are people with an IQ above 120 not being rated as highly because they are worse at leadership (on average), or because they are being rated incorrectly?

In the next reply, I've put some points of view from around the web as to why some people with a high IQ might not being doing as well as those who are bright but not super-bright.


What do you think?

[Aletheia]

https://www.reddit.com/r/socialskills/c ... rt_people/

This may sound silly to a lot of people. Today I realized that people
don't like someone showing smarts all the time, even if they are
"being themselves". They either feel that they are being put down or
they will feel the need to act smart too. People will either try to
put you down in some way, wont like you from the start or just find
you exhausting to be around. A little gossip is also good. If you
don't do it, they may see you as a snob that finds gossip and people
who gossip unworthy.

This is the mistake I've been making my whole life... taking myself
too seriously. Undoing it is going to be difficult.



People don't hate smart people, people hate smart people that are
lacking in sufficient social skills and emotional intelligence. Part
of that is adapting and matching the other people without compromising
your principles.

For example, that means I'll talk about what you are interested in
because it makes you happy to talk about what you like, and I am happy
to share your interest rather than showing off the knowledge I have.
If I have a lot of knowledge on the topic it's also fun to be able to
discuss the topic at depth, but if I don't that's okay too. I'll also
watch you closely to see when you get bored when I yammer on too much,
and change the subject so you'll be drawn into conversation again.
Likeability is very important. In the end what we leave others is the
memory of how we made them feel.





There's a difference between being smart, and being a know-it-all. Its
not about your IQ, its about how you present yourself. "Nobody likes a
know-it-all." People don't hate intelligence. They don't hate
seriousness. They hate dicks.

Know-it-alls correct people on mundane facts or dominates the
conversation about things no one but you knows or cares about. That's
what people hate, not the subject matter or your intelligence. You
could correct people about their facts of Call of Duty and talk
non-stop about Truck Nutz and people will still think you're an
asshole. The reason people hate this is not because its smart, they
hate it because you don't contribute to the group dynamic besides
pointing out grammar errors. There's a reason everyone hates Clippy.

If people are saying you're a snob about not gossiping, its probably
not because you refuse to gossip, its how you refuse it. "I think
gossiping is a waste of time". That's snobby. You refused to gossip,
great job, and in the process you just insulted everyone else in the
room. "Hey come on guys, Jack doesn't deserve that" is still a
refusal, but it avoids insulting everyone in the process and sprinkles
in some empathy to go along with it.



I just try not to be a dick about it. And don't jump at every chance
to be knowledgeable or correct someone. If you're explaining something
super technical, use familiar everyday language to explain. I
explained how microwaves worked to a dude who thought that microwave
ovens put harmful radioactive particles in food. I just didn't want
the poor guy to think he was gonna get cancer a la Marie Curie every
time he nuked leftovers.



Don't confuse being smart with flaunting your intelligence. It's the
difference between, "I can use my mind to make this situation
entertaining for all of us" vs "I'll try to impress you with my
intelligence."

The same trap happens with attractiveness. Being attractive is
generally seen well, but being perceived as asserting attractive
superiority isn't.



Intelligence needs to be factored in when selecting the topic of
conversation... Directing conversation to areas of common interest (
local events, weather, etc.) is a good way to establish/maintain
rapport. After gauging the audience you can move on to sharing either
a funny comic or mysteries of the cosmos.



I have an extremely smart friend who basically adjusts his vocabulary
and topics to those around him. He will talk like an average Joe and
shoot shit when he is hanging around with us. Being on the outside
looking in, you'd never know the extent of his intellectual
capabilities which makes him am absolute pleasure to be around since
he can "blend in" with any crowd.

However when it comes down to business, he can talk the big talk. I'm
waiting for the day when someone tries to talk down to him in an
attempt to show off how smart they think they are and get completely
destoryed.

I know it might sounds horrible telling you to dumb it down around
certain people, but it would be easier in my opinion to make personal
connections this way. on a side note, don't think you can't display
your knowledge ever! The friend I'm talking about teaches us things
every now and then since we ask him how he feels about something
that's making headlines in the news. He tells us his opinion and then
spends time asking about ours and never once has he made us feel
stupid through this process.

Just know your audience and you should be fine.




I think the general rule is just that people don't like other people
who snobby about something, whether it is their looks, intelligence,
music, movies, ect. It is fine to be really good at something or
really knowledgeable but not to be a dick about or throw it other
people's faces.



People HATE "that guy" who corrects people, no matter it is. It just
doesn't matter, whether it's a grammar mistake or whether they got a
date wrong. It's really annoying, and most of all, it's not FUN.
People like to be around fun people.



The key is to be able to recognize from their physical and verbal
responses when you've lost them - when to slow down, when you're
treating them like idiots and to speed up. Being able to extract the
core ideas from what you're saying and express them using different
vocabulary, different methods of speech, and without confusing details
is critical.



============================================

https://www.fastcompany.com/3000430/you ... r-own-good

Really smart people, who get to the answer before everyone else, get
frustrated because:

No one gets why they are right, and they tired of explaining things
all the time.
Everyone seems to WANT to go slower, and it is infuriating.
They resent having to make the effort of “bringing people along”–it’s
not fair, and it’s a waste of time.
They piss people off. Why do people get so upset when they’re just
stating facts?

If you are one of these people, or you have one of these people
working for you, here is the trick: You can either be smart, or you
can be effective.

You can be 100% right and 0% effective.

Remember, you can’t do everything alone. At some point you need other
people. You need them either to help you or to get out of your way!

So you have to be able to influence people. If you can’t influence
them, you will face roadblocks and fail to get others working on your
agenda, and you will not be effective. If you want to be effective,
you have to suck it up and bring people along with you–even though it
seems like a waste of time.

Here are some ideas for doing that.

First, slow down even though it goes against every grain of your
being. Then brace yourself, and try some of the following.

Include the annoying people: Don’t just announce the answer. Go
through the step of setting context and getting input. Don’t always
assume you know where the best ideas are going to come from. Develop
the attitude that you can learn something from anyone. Practice being
more curious. You will get some good ideas that surprise you. People
like to be asked.

Listen even if you don’t want to: In meetings, give others time to
talk, and listen instead of arguing, or quickly shutting them down, or
telling them why their idea is wrong or won’t work. You may feel like
you are wasting time, but you will win favor by listening. Even if you
think their ideas are stupid, listening will pay off later when you
need to get their support.

Don’t be mean: I know it doesn’t feel like you’re being mean. You are
not trying to be mean. You are trying to be straightforward,
practical, share the answer, and make progress. In fact, one of the
things that is so frustrating about these people is that they accuse
you of being mean when you are not.

But they have the right to their perception. What they see may be your
dismissing their inputs, ignoring them, or picking fights publicly. Be
more gracious. Be more patient. Use more steps in your logic. Get
smaller agreements along the way. Say thank you.

Keep your mouth shut: If you are in a room full of stupid people who
annoy you, try the strategy of just shutting up. Speak later, with
your actions, and make the right things happen. You don’t need to show
you are smarter than everyone along the way.

Make an effort to learn what their strengths are: Clearly these people
don’t share your strengths if they annoy you this much. Try to
discover what their strengths are. You may be pleasantly surprised. Or
not. But if you can get someone talking about what they are good at,
and show some appreciation of that, you can more easily gain their
support for your agenda.

Give them the benefit of the doubt: Keep in mind that these people
might be brilliant in ways that you don’t see–in ways that you are
not.

What if someone in the room is really gifted at networking and
connecting and getting others to get on board? Even if they never
understand your project, and sometimes slow you down on the
operational part, if you can win over that one person they can save
you loads of time by bringing all the others along.
For example, what if the frustrating, ever-questioning numbers guy who
is just not getting the big picture, has a relationship with the CFO
that will get your idea funded if you can win him over?


======================================================

https://science.slashdot.org/story/18/0 ... rt-leaders

Intelligence makes for better leaders -- from undergraduates to
executives to presidents -- according to multiple studies. It
certainly makes sense that handling a market shift or legislative
logjam requires cognitive oomph. But new research on leadership
suggests that, at a certain point, having a higher IQ stops helping
and starts hurting. The researchers looked at 379 male and female
business leaders in 30 countries, across fields that included banking,
retail and technology. The managers took IQ tests (an imperfect but
robust predictor of performance in many areas), and each was rated on
leadership style and effectiveness by an average of eight co-workers.
IQ positively correlated with ratings of leader effectiveness,
strategy formation, vision and several other characteristics -- up to
a point. The ratings peaked at an IQ of around 120, which is higher
than roughly 80 percent of office workers. Beyond that, the ratings
declined. The researchers suggest the "ideal" IQ could be higher or
lower in various fields, depending on whether technical versus social
skills are more valued in a given work culture. The study's lead
author, John Antonakis, a psychologist at the University of Lausanne
in Switzerland, suggests leaders should use their intelligence to
generate creative metaphors that will persuade and inspire others --
the way former U.S. President Barack Obama did. "I think the only way
a smart person can signal their intelligence appropriately and still
connect with the people," Antonakis says, "is to speak in charismatic
ways."

==========================================================================

https://growthlab.com/problems-smart-people-have/

SMART PEOPLE PROBLEM #4: THEY FORGET WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A BEGINNER

Sometimes the very best are horrible teachers.

That’s because they just can’t remember what it’s like being a beginner!
Go talk to Mariah Carey and ask her how to break into the business.
She doesn’t know! She’s been a diva for so long — she requires that
her music is played when she enters a room — that she has no idea what
it’s like to be a beginner.

Love you, Mariah.

Smart people have spent so many years working on something that they
often forget what it’s like to be a beginner.

Like my computer science professor in college who once looked at my
problem — which I was hopelessly stuck on — and he told me to “Harness
the power of C.”

PLEASE DIE!!!

As you get more and more advanced in your career (or relationship or
business or pretty much anything), it becomes harder and harder to
relate to true beginners. That’s because you’ve built your skill on a
series of increasing foundational blocks of knowledge — like building
a skyscraper, first sketching it on paper, then with the concrete,
then on and on.

If you’re a NYC real-estate developer and someone comes to you and
asks what type of wood to use in their house, you’d stare at them
blankly. ‘Wood? Who the hell knows? I want to talk about complex
financing to get this thing built.’

That’s why not all smart people are great teachers. (But most great
teachers are smart.)

====================================================================

https://careers.workopolis.com/advice/a ... d-7232014/

Some ways that people can be too smart for their own good when it
comes to getting a job:

Refusing to participate. Smart people sometimes hold back from
applying for jobs that are available because they think the work will
be beneath them, or they’ll be selling out on their higher ideals by
lending their gifts to the crass world of making a profit.

I’ve had this argument with a gifted, but chronically under-employed
friend. You don’t know where your skills and abilities will take you
without contributing. There is fascinating and worthwhile work being
done in all sectors, private, public, and not-for-profit. This is what
makes our society and economy work – people using the best of their
abilities to create goods and services of real value to others.
Standing on the sidelines looking down on it isn’t as smart as it
seems.

Too much information. Intelligent people can be justifiably proud of
their accomplishments and education, and this can lead to a tendency
to overload a resume with too many details that aren’t actually
relevant to employers. It’s not dishonesty to leave things off your
resume: it’s editing, it’s marketing. Remember to focus on the
challenges and needs of the job and organization you’re applying to,
and list your relevant skills and accomplishments to show how you can
be an asset.

Acting bored or cocky. The smartest person in the room can find it
trying to have to listen to others explain things that they already
know or aren’t interested in. However, in the business setting, and
especially at job interviews, good manners and sociability are
essential. So acting disinterested in what others have to say or
appearing arrogant about your superior intellect will get you shunned
quickly.

Not being dependable. Sure the mundane details like showing up on time
or getting work done on a schedule can be boring when you’re busy
coming up with innovative and ground-breaking new solutions, but they
still matter. If you do great work, you will be allowed more leeway,
but at the end of the day, your boss needs to know that they can count
on you. Being too unreliable on the job will trump having a big brain.

Lacking in social skills. Smart people sometimes think that the most
important thing is to be right all the time – because it is on that
level that they are most comfortable competing. However, constantly
pointing out others’ errors, or arguing every point to the inevitable
conclusion that you know best will only make people reluctant to work
with you. Critical thinking and healthy debate are not the same as
simply being critical and negative. Use your intelligence to be a
leader, share your perspective, but don’t try to force people to
always agree with you.

==================================================================

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog ... mart-women

3. Smart women are too big for their britches. The structural
hierarchies in cities, the courtship rituals in our species, and our
ability to look powerful even when we lack it have all made us
status-conscious animals. We enhance our status in many ways, but one
pervasive way is to act as children cannot, since childhood is in all
societies a sign of reduced power. Women have a handicap in status
play because their size makes them typically look more like children
than men do (when standing next to men). Children are also, besides
being smaller than adults, less able to control their bodies. I’m not
saying that women are less able to control their bodies than men are;
I’m saying that society focuses on women’s reproductive cycles in
order to make them seem more like children, and this too handicaps
them in status performances. Men’s visual lust also highlights women’s
bodies. Further, society generally trains girls to play lower status
than boys. Smart women disrupt status transactions, and other people
put them back in their place, like children who interrupt grownups.
This is obvious on talk shows that have panels, where men talk and
women get hands placed on their shoulders or forearms to remind them
to wait until the adults have finished speaking.

==========================================================================

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-travi ... 92210.html

Consider some of the most common ways in which smart people manage to
shoot themselves in the foot.

1. Smart people are overconfident. A lifetime of praise and pats on
the back leads smart people to develop an unflappable faith in their
intelligence and abilities. When you rack up accomplishments while
people stroke your ego, it’s easy to expect that things will always go
your way. But this is a dangerous expectation. Smart people often fail
to recognize when they need help, and when they do recognize it, they
tend to believe that no one else is capable of providing it.

2. They push people too hard. Smart people develop overachieving
personalities because things come so easily to them. They simply don’t
understand how hard some people have to work to accomplish the same
things, and because of that, they push people too hard. Smart people
set the bar too high, and when people take too long or don’t get
things quite right, they assume it’s due to a lack of effort. So they
push even harder and miss the opportunity to help others achieve the
goals they’re so anxious for them to reach.

3. They always need to be right. It’s hard for anyone to graciously
accept the fact that they’re wrong. It’s even harder for smart people
because they grow so used to being right all the time that it becomes
a part of their identity. For smart people, being wrong can feel like
a personal attack, and being right, a necessity.

4. They lack emotional intelligence. While intelligence (IQ) and
emotional intelligence (EQ) don’t occur together in any meaningful way
(Smart people, on average, have just as much EQ as everyone else),
when a smart person lacks EQ, it’s painfully obvious. These high-IQ,
low-EQ individuals see the world as a meritocracy. Achievements are
all that matter, and people and emotions just get in the way. Which is
a shame because TalentSmart research with more than a million people
shows that—even among the upper echelons of IQ—the top performers are
those with the highest EQs, as measured by an emotional intelligence
test.

5. They give up when they fail. Have you ever watched a sporting event
and seen the stunned look on the face of an athlete whom everyone
expected to win, but didn’t? Smart people can easily fall into the
trap of seeing failure as the end of the world because frequent
success creates expectations that make failure hard to tolerate.
People who have to work hard for what they achieve have plenty of
practice learning how to deal with failure. They learn to embrace it
because they know that failure is just a stepping stone to success.

6. They fail to develop grit. When things come really easy to you,
it’s easy to see hard work as a negative (a sign that you don’t have
what it takes). When smart people can’t complete something without a
tremendous amount of effort, they tend to feel frustrated and
embarrassed. This leads them to make the false assumption that if they
can’t do something easily, there’s something wrong with them. As a
result, smart people tend to move on to something else that affirms
their sense of worth before they’ve put in the time to develop the
grit they need to succeed at the highest possible level.

7. They multitask. Smart people think really quickly, which can make
them impatient. They like to get several things going at once so that
there isn’t any downtime. They think so quickly that, when they
multitask, it feels like it’s working and they’re getting more done,
but Stanford research shows that this isn’t the case. Not only does
multitasking make you less productive, but people who multitask often
because they think they’re good at it are actually worse at
multitasking than people who prefer to do one thing at a time.

8. They have a hard time accepting feedback. Smart people tend to
undervalue the opinions of others, which means they have trouble
believing that anyone is qualified to give them useful feedback. Not
only does this tendency hinder their growth and performance, it can
lead to toxic relationships, both personally and professionally.

[RedBottoms]

I like being a know it all. Now some subjects I don't know shit about and will not say anything. But the subjects I do know lots about, I won't hide my knowledge or experience on the subject. If that bothers others, oh wells. I won't dumb myself down for others.

I do however practice some manners and try to let others talk and take turns and things like that. But if someone is wrong-I am going to tell them they are wrong.

[noitsmebecky]

I have no idea what my IQ is. I’m not an idiot but I’m not good at certain things like math. I’m certainly not a genius. I got to where I am in school and work because of hard work and networking. I don’t think my IQ had anything to do with it-although I am very good at problem solving and abstract thinking.

[piratemoo]

There are some excellent points brought up in the thread and I agree to an extent (some of it is TLDR; while I'm working on homework). I'm considered HG, but I have deficits elsewhere (specifically when it comes to communication and thought expression).

I have had to work very hard to try to learn the social nuances people have and I still fail at this miserably. I tend to have a micro-manager personality, and will completely forget cues where I should be empathetic towards others at times.

It's not that I don't care, it's just I can't express concern in the same fashion I see most people can. Sometimes it's just that I'm truly apathetic as an individual because I can't "see" how things may truly affect others.

The areas I'm enthusiastic about, I excel in, but I'm also a total idiot too. I don't mean to do this. I'm an INTJ (yes, I realize this isn't grounded in anything remotely scientifically empirical) and tend to stay within my own little world. I need to get better about it in all honesty.

I am better at being a doer and solving problems unrelated to people. I try to just be as chill as possible as a result, because I used to get a lot of shit for being a smart ass.

[piratemoo]

I have no idea what my IQ is. I’m not an idiot but I’m not good at certain things like math. I’m certainly not a genius. I got to where I am in school and work because of hard work and networking. I don’t think my IQ had anything to do with it-although I am very good at problem solving and abstract thinking.

Speak with your psychologist.

[noitsmebecky]

I have no idea what my IQ is. I’m not an idiot but I’m not good at certain things like math. I’m certainly not a genius. I got to where I am in school and work because of hard work and networking. I don’t think my IQ had anything to do with it-although I am very good at problem solving and abstract thinking.

Speak with your psychologist.

To find out my IQ?

I think I also remember reading at one time that IQ assessments aren’t always accurate. I could be wrong though.

[piratemoo]

I have no idea what my IQ is. I’m not an idiot but I’m not good at certain things like math. I’m certainly not a genius. I got to where I am in school and work because of hard work and networking. I don’t think my IQ had anything to do with it-although I am very good at problem solving and abstract thinking.

Speak with your psychologist.

To find out my IQ?

I think I also remember reading at one time that IQ assessments aren’t always accurate. I could be wrong though.

No, they never really are, they just give you a general idea of how quickly you can analyze and solve problems, but none of this is set in stone. In fact, the Stanford-Bennett IQ test was used to discriminate against immigrants in the past (there are also a lot of other issues that come along into play, like the slide into eugenics). There are a few different kinds you can take, but yea your psychologist can help set you up (they usually do testing for children).

Reality: We all want to be a genius, because of our own ego. That's why all those bullshit "only x amt of people know the answer to this" memes became so popular. It's all a flaming pile of dumpster crap.

[Reedusstalker]

My sister is a know it all and has no friends. Shes annoying. She doesnt understand that life experience shapes how you learn things.

Example, if she reads in a book that the best way to cook a potato in the microwave is to cook it for 7 minutes, thats how she will cook it.

BUT, if life experience has told me cooking it 6 minutes on each side works too, she wont believe you. She will correct you and interject into every conversation you have about potatoes. She will look up every article she can find to read to you or send you to try and convince you that shes right.

[noitsmebecky]

Speak with your psychologist.

To find out my IQ?

I think I also remember reading at one time that IQ assessments aren’t always accurate. I could be wrong though.

No, they never really are, they just give you a general idea of how quickly you can analyze and solve problems, but none of this is set in stone. In fact, the Stanford-Bennett IQ test was used to discriminate against immigrants in the past (there are also a lot of other issues that come along into play, like the slide into eugenics). There are a few different kinds you can take, but yea your psychologist can help set you up (they usually do testing for children).

Reality: We all want to be a genius, because of our own ego. That's why all those bullshit "only x amt of people know the answer to this" memes became so popular. It's all a flaming pile of dumpster crap.

I’ll have to ask her about it. The eugenics stuff sounds familiar and may have been mentioned in what I read.