Career Feng Shui: 3 Charts to Raise Your EQ

Readers here generally score pretty high on the IQ scale. If you're reading this, chances are you're analytical by nature and have honed the convergent reasoning skills necessary to improve your scores on aptitude tests like the SAT and GMAT. Research has shown, however, that this type of intelligence is less indicative of career success than its counterpart, emotional intelligence (EQ). My personal belief is that most of us spend a highly disproportionate amount of effort on improving our IQ as opposed to our EQ.

In honing your EQ, there is no replacement to getting out in the world, interacting with people, and as you observe, giving thought to what makes people tick. However, there are things you can do to give yourself some additional perspectives on how people think and communicate. Most studies of this type involve learning facial expressions and body language, but there are some other aspects of the human psyche that analytical types often ignore.

I propose you give some attention to a realm we often relegate to the artistic types: the study of color, including what colors communicate and how they influence our emotional state. The applications are various - what you wear, how you decorate your office, how you brand your company, etc. These three charts will get you started with the tools you need, and hopefully give you an appreciation for the primal, powerful impact that purposeful application of the art of color can have.

A caveat: these charts are compiled from the perspective of a Westerner. The things that a certain color communicates, which have been implanted in our minds by our cultures over our lifetimes, may be drastically different from one culture to the next.

Chart #1

For you skeptics out there, here is a practical example. This first chart gives a few general descriptors of the feelings that primary and secondary colors create, and is geared towards logo creation. Red and yellow are the two colors that evokes a “feeling” of hunger. (While hunger is only listed under red in this limited listing, it is also a feeling evoked by the color yellow.) Who uses red and yellow in their logo? McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, etc. In contrast, the blue and whites used by most banks connote trustworthiness, dependability, fiscal responsibility, security, protection, etc. See? This color thing is significant enough for the world’s big brands to pay attention. If you’re not using it on a smaller scale to benefit your personal brand, you’re missing out.

Source: Digibuzz

Chart #2

This chart comes from an interior design website and is geared toward room colors, but the list of emotions evoked can be applicable elsewhere. I’ve found this list a little more comprehensive. Note that this is not an exact science – the list is trying to define emotions in a single word (which is inherently inaccurate), and should be viewed wholistically.

Source: Design 55

Chart #3

To wrap things up, here is one more infographic that goes more in depth. This chart illustrates the fact that what a color communicates is highly dependent on context, and can have a positive or negative impact depending on how it is applied.

Source: Carey Jolliffe

Do you guys already use color to communicate something or accomplish a certain purpose, either in business or in your personal life? If you want to read more, there are some good articles on Cracked and NY Times that give some interesting suggestions.