3 qualities that are more important to success than high intelligence

Many believe that a high IQ plays a key role in a person's success. Indeed, IQ can affect academic performance. However, admission to Moscow State University or another prestigious university and the diploma received there by no means guarantee that you will achieve professional heights.

CEOs of large companies who have recruited the brightest graduates are often bewildered. Why productivity new hires fits perfectly into the Bell curve (normal distribution of productivity in the team): do some people work better, others do worse, do most of them stick to the middle? Shouldn't all geniuses be at the same - "elite" - level ?!

No. Research shows that IQ is less important to success than is commonly believed. Here are three often overlooked qualities that play a major role in the ability to get things done.

1. Self-control

Often we ourselves are the biggest obstacle to success. The ability to manage our own behavior is invariably reflected in our values ​​and goals.

A classic confirmation of this is the famous Stanford "marshmallow" experimentMischel Walter, Ebbesen Ebbe B., Raskoff Zeiss Antonette. Cognitive and attentional mechanisms in delay of gratification / Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. In this study, psychologists offered sweets to young children. And they reported: the gift can be eaten right now or you can wait 15 minutes for the experimenter to leave and return to the room, and then receive a reward in double size - two marshmallow instead of one.

Later, scientists tracked how the participants in the experiment grew and what success they achieved. It was found that those who were able to patiently wait for a doubling of the reward did better in the future.W. Mischel, Y. Shoda, M. I. Rodriguez. Delay of gratification in children / Sciencereceived higher salaries and were less prone to obesityTanya R. Schlam, Nicole L. Wilson, Yuichi Shoda, Walter Mischel, Ozlem Ayduk. Preschoolers' delay of gratification predicts their body mass 30 years later / The Journal of Pediatricsthan those who ate marshmallows right away.

The Stanford Experiment has long been considered the benchmark for how important self-control is to success in life. But a few years ago, some of his findings were challenged.Tyler W. Watts, Greg J. Duncan, Haonan Quan. Revisiting the Marshmallow Test: A Conceptual Replication Investigating Links Between Early Delay of Gratification and Later Outcomes / SAGE Journals. Opponents repeated the study with many more children than in the original case. Moreover, they were chosen from families with different income levels. It turned out that self-control, like the subsequent success of such children, is closely related not so much to character traits as to the social status of the parents. Sons and daughters of wealthy mothers and fathers more often found the strength to patiently wait for the doubling of marshmallows - simply because they regularly received sweets at home and did not see great value in them. But participants from disadvantaged families ate the treat right away. Children of wealthy parents were more successful as adults poor, which is also not surprising.

However, the refuted conclusions of the marshmallow experiment do not yet mean that the importance of self-control has been disputed. It doesn't matter for what reason you are able to control your behavior. The only important thing is that this ability really isRoy F. Baumeister, Karen P. Leith, Mark Muraven, Ellen Bratslavsky. Self ‑ Regulation as a Key to Success in Life / Improving Competence across the Lifespan one of the most important success factors.

Self-control is like a muscle. It can also be strengthened, including by creating the necessary conditions for this.

Practice saying "no", for example, when you find yourself wanting to go to social networks during working hours or put on a plate extra portion. Learn to manage your behavior every day. The ability to control yourself in one thing will spread to all areas of your life.

2. Empathy

Empathy is the ability to feel on the side of a client or person with whom you are currently communicating.

Different points of view are often the cause of conflict. Empathy allows you to understand the views and motives of the opponent and thus reduces tension. This is the difference between "I think you are wrong" and "I understand what you mean." If the first phrase makes your counterpart take a defensive position, then the second invites you to talk sincerely and constructively.

Each of us has great potential for empathy and understanding of the interlocutors. Discovery of mirror neurons This is the name for the neurons in the brain, which are excited when we observe the actions of others. This excitement forces us to imitate the other person, which is a necessary mechanism for learning and establishing social connections, and at the same time empathize with him. provesDo Mirror Neurons Give Us Empathy? / The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley: we are all biologically capable of empathy. Observe someone face to face - and you will acutely feel their pain and feelings.

Knowing about your own innate empathy is the key to success. Start tracking your feelings. Give them definitions. Describe your experience mentally, as if interviewing yourself. As you get to know your own self better, you will begin to more subtly and more intuitively understand what someone else is experiencing.

And the most important thing. The empathy you demonstrate shows people that you care, that you care about their experiences. Remember the words of Theodore Roosevelt: "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

3. Excerpt

Psychologist Angela Duckworth studiedGrit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance / TED Talks Educationtraits successful people from a variety of backgrounds: officers and students of the West Point Military Academy, participants in the National Spelling Bee (a popular spelling competition held in the United States), novice teachers from disadvantaged areas, salespeople in private companies. It turned out that they all had one thing in common - endurance.

If self-control is the ability to cope with various temptations, then endurance is the resilience that a person shows when faced with physical and psychological difficulties. This is a trait that is an important part of the so-called growth mindset, thinking growth. It can be explained as follows.

Psychologists distinguish two standard algorithms by which we think and live. People with a fixed mindset are sure that they are who they are, and that cannot be changed. With this approach, having failed, the person retreats. He sincerely believes that his abilities and strengths are not enough to win, which means that there is nothing to try.

The growth mindset forces you to act differently. The man is sure that with every attempt, even if disastrous, he approaches success and acquires mastery. Stanford professor Carol Dweck, author of many studies on this topic, arguesThe Growth Mindset / @Khan Academy / YouTube: when we do not give up what we started, but persist in looking for ways to solve the problem, the brain is actively developing new neural connections.

The growth mindset is more than positive thinking. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal believesHow to make stress your friend / TEDGlobal 2013that the newly formed neural connections reduce the body's response to stress. And the less nervous you are, the more effectively you deal with life's problems.

Building endurance requires patience and consistency. However, resilience can also be developed with simple daily actions. For example, try learning to juggle. Or start taking cold shower everyday. The perseverance that you cultivate in yourself will help you become more successful in other areas of life.