IQ Got Me in Trouble That Day
Welcome to another Toolkit Tuesday! Every week, our goal is to give you a practical leadership tool to put in your toolkit.
So There I (Matt) Was…
…teaching a morning session on a mission trip in a foreign country. Each day before heading out, we discussed the challenges of serving in another culture. I was fully in the zone, connecting concepts and laying out solutions.
What I didn’t notice, or maybe just didn’t register, was that someone right next to me had started to cry. I was so focused on the content that I missed what was happening emotionally in the room. Thankfully my co-leader saw it, paused the session and made space to care for our teammate.
It was a wake-up call. Leadership isn’t just about what you know. It’s about being aware enough to know when to stop talking and start seeing.
The Challenge
Most leaders unknowingly lead out of imbalance. We over-rely on our natural strengths and underdevelop the areas that would make us whole. Maybe you’re a task-oriented IQ workhorse, a relationship-focused EQ cheerleader or a self-aware PQ processor. But when one of those areas is weak, your leadership becomes unstable. Like a body with a weak core, it won’t hold up under pressure.
The Tool: The Core of Your Leadership
This tool breaks leadership health into three dimensions:
PQ (Personality Intelligence) – How well do you understand your tendencies and how they impact others? This is about self-awareness. Leaders with high PQ know how they’re wired, can predict their reactions under pressure and are honest about their strengths and blind spots.
EQ (Emotional Intelligence) – What’s it like to be on the other side of you? Can you connect and communicate effectively? EQ shows up in your ability to read a room, respond with empathy and create relational trust. A leader with low EQ might be competent but rarely followed with loyalty.
IQ (Execution Intelligence) – Can you actually get the job done with your current skill set? IQ in this model isn’t about how smart you are but whether you can execute and deliver results. It’s your technical ability, decisiveness and follow-through.
Each of these dimensions matters, but they work best together. Self-awareness without emotional intelligence becomes self-absorbed. EQ without execution becomes empty charisma. IQ without PQ or EQ turns into leadership that feels cold or disconnected. The Core helps you assess where you’re thriving and where you need to grow so you can lead with balance and credibility.
Just like your physical core supports everything else in your body, your leadership Core holds everything together. When one part is weak, your leadership suffers. When all three are strong and aligned, you become balanced, adaptable and trusted.
Why This Matters Now
Most organizational issues trace back to unhealthy leadership. If you’re imbalanced, your team feels it. Maybe they don’t trust you or they don’t feel challenged or they’re just confused. When you strengthen your core by building awareness, empathy and execution, you create a leadership culture where people grow, teams thrive and performance follows.
The Result
Ignoring your Core leads to blind spots, broken trust and burnout. But when you grow it and take responsibility for your PQ, EQ and IQ, you build credibility, trust and results. You become the kind of leader others want to follow, not just have to.
Take Action
Assess yourself: Rate your PQ, EQ and IQ from 1 to 100. Average the scores to get your Core score. Where are you strong? Where do you need to grow?
Strengthen your Core: Book a strategy call to explore how this tool can help you develop balanced, effective leadership for yourself and your team.
Closing the Loop
That moment on the mission trip reminded me that leadership isn't just about what you say. It’s about who you’re becoming. The Core tool helped me stay balanced and intentional. So I’ll ask you, when’s the last time you checked the condition of your Core?
Lead hard!
