The Make or Break Quality

There’s been a lot of discussion on the importance of IQ and EQ in the workplace: I generally categorize the IQ as how smart are you….ability to grasp complexity, figure out problems quickly, get to the answers. EQ is “how well you play with others”: self awareness, empathy, the ability to get others to want to be on your side. But here’s the make or break quality that is key….even if you are great at the other two things. Judgment. If you have bad judgment, everything else doesn’t matter. It’s hard to measure, but let me describe what I mean by it:

  1. When you make a decision, are you right 9 times out of 10? No hedging…did you make the right call hands down and people agree?  Or do they seem unhappy with the direction taken and never feel differently?
  2. Do you know when you need to take action and when you don’t? Sometimes you should wait, sometimes you need to act immediately. Sometimes you need to say something, sometimes you need to see it play out.  Do you do the same thing no matter what?
  3. Can you figure out the potential problems before they happen? When someone comes to you with an idea, can you see immediately why it’s the wrong thing to do, or do you let everyone “try it and see”?
  4. Are you usually right about a person?  Even if everyone’s opinion is different from yours.  I remember when I didn’t believe an individual would be good for a job, and my colleagues made me interview him twice. I gave in, we hired him, it ended up being a nightmare.
  5. Can you size up a situation quickly? Can you figure out people’s motivations, what the issues are, how to guide to the best outcome? Or do you tend to go along for the ride to see what happens?

Good judgment comes from experience, instinct, courage, and conviction. Who wouldn’t want that on their team? As managers, we tend to call people like this “a safe pair of hands”.