EI

s, Penn and Matt. Penn was a brilliant
and creative student, an exemplar of the best Yale had to offer. The trouble with
Penn was he knew he was exceptional – and so was, as one professor put it,
“unbelievably arrogant.” Even so, he looked spectacular on paper. When he
graduated, Penn was highly sought after. He got a lot of invitations for job
interviews. But Penn’s arrogance came across all too clearly; he ended up with
only one job offer from a second-tier outfit. Matt, on the other hand, wasn’t as
academically brilliant. But he was adept interpersonally. Everyone who worked
with him liked him. Matt ended up with seven job offers out of eight interviews
and went on to success in his field, while Penn was let go after two years at his
first job. Penn lacked – and Matt had – emotional intelligence.