SQ: Swag Quotient
There are many different ways to evaluate a person's aptitude and abilities - the best known of which is the IQ test. A person's 'Intelligence Quotient' can be determined from a series of standardized tests and that score has been a mainstay in Human Resources and recruitment departments for over a century.
In the 1980's Emotional Intelligence or EQ also rose to prominence, arguing that leadership and success rested just as much on the ability to connect with others and listen empathically as it does upon the ability to solve abstract mathematical problems.
To this discussion I would like to introduce the notion of SQ or 'Swag Quotient'. ‘Swag’ in this context is the confidence, certainty and charisma that naturally exude from inhabiting the best self.
You know high SQ when you see it. It comes with confidence. It comes with good posture. It comes with clear speech. It comes with certainty. It comes with directness. It comes with an unflappable resolve. As the outward manifestation of certainty, SQ has an enormous impact on others. Leadership expert John C. Maxwell has written that 'leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less'. Whenever two people meet, the one with the lesser degree of certainty will invariably sync up with the greater certainty of the other. High SQ makes us magnetic and influential, on an energetic, pre-verbal level. Before we say or do anything, before we try to persuade or educate, our high SQ is already having a palpable effect, making others well-disposed towards us and laying the foundation for our speech and actions to be powerful and impactful.
How can you tell if your SQ is high? One way is to look at how you respond to praise or criticism. A person with high SQ responds to both in the same way. Identifying with your best self gives you an internal locus of control - you feel stable and grounded which makes you far less susceptible to the changing winds of fortune. You're not dependent on others for your self-worth or for the progressive realization of your worthy ideal. You're in the driver's seat of life which makes you increasingly bullet proof in the face of difficulty.
One important note: swag is an effect rather than something we affect. It’s the natural result of being aligned to our highest values and in that way it can’t be forced or faked. Genuine confidence is easily discernible from arrogance or overcompensation. High SQ is necessarily also high IQ and EQ - IQ because we identify with our own natural capabilities and skills, and EQ because we’re aligned with positive emotional qualities that naturally value and recognize the importance of others.
Many people try to fake SQ - just like they mouth the words of EQ and learn how to sound smart and authoritative. The true measure of SQ comes from the inside out - when we’re able to stay calm and relaxed in the face of difficulty and become more and more grounded in our own best qualities. Outward success and influence will develop naturally from that - but only as a secondary effect. Real SQ is unmistakable and its results in the world are astonishing. .
