IQ Got You the Job, EQ Got You the Promotion. In APAC's Luxury Chaos, Only AQ Will Save You

hongminglau8
Aug 15
8 min read

Last week, we diagnosed the Great APAC Talent Drain. We dissected the unique "Burnout Signatures" crippling teams from Shanghai to Sydney. The response was overwhelming, confirming one brutal reality: the old leadership playbook is obsolete.

Today, we move from diagnosis to cure.

For decades, we hired for IQ (raw intelligence) and promoted for EQ (emotional intelligence). That formula is now dangerously incomplete. In an era of permanent disruption, where the Chinese consumer pivots overnight and a new social platform can upend your marketing strategy in a week, there is a new currency of talent: Adaptability Quotient (AQ).

AQ is not just resilience. It’s the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn at speed. It’s the mental flexibility to thrive in ambiguity and see opportunity in chaos. And right now, the lack of it is a multi-million-dollar problem hiding in plain sight on your P&L.

The AQ Deficit: How It Fuels the Burnout We Diagnosed

Let's connect this directly to the pressures your teams are facing right now:

In China: The "Strategic Fatigue" we discussed is a low-AQ symptom. A low-AQ team is exhausted by constant pivots. A high-AQ team sees a pivot as a puzzle to be solved, an opportunity to outmaneuver the competition.
In Japan & Korea: The "Service Dissonance" of serving both tourists and VICs drains a low-AQ team. A high-AQ team adapts their communication style seamlessly, instinctively code-switching their service model without the mental burnout.
In Hong Kong & Taiwan: The "Hyper-Competitive Burnout" crushes a low-AQ individual. A high-AQ professional has the internal resilience to see the intense pressure as a performance sharpener, not a personal threat.
In SEA & ANZ: The "Structural Burnout" of rapid growth overwhelms a low-AQ leader. A high-AQ leader frames the chaos of "building the plane while flying it" as an exhilarating entrepreneurial challenge.

Hiring for AQ is no longer a "nice-to-have." It is the single most important strategic decision you can make in talent management today.

The AQ Hiring Playbook: How to Find Adaptability in an Interview

Stop asking "Where do you see yourself in five years?" The five-year plan is dead. Start asking questions that reveal a candidate's core adaptability.

Step 1: Deconstruct the Résumé for Patterns, Not Paths. Look for evidence of adaptation. Did they successfully navigate a company crisis? Move between vastly different functions (e.g., merchandising to e-commerce)? Launch a project that had no precedent? A linear, predictable career path can be a low-AQ red flag.

Step 2: The AQ Interview Protocol. Integrate these questions into your next interview. The answers are more revealing than any competency test.

The "Unlearning" Question:
- Instead of: "Tell me about a success."
- Ask: "Tell me about a time a core belief you held about our industry or consumer turned out to be wrong. What did you have to unlearn?"
- Listen for: Humility, the ability to discard old knowledge, and a genuine curiosity about the new reality. A low-AQ answer blames external factors.
The "Ambiguity" Question:
- Instead of: "How do you handle stress?"
- Ask: "Describe a major project where the brief was unclear or changed halfway through. Walk me through your exact thought process and the very first steps you took."
- Listen for: A bias for action, the ability to create structure from chaos, and a calm, problem-solving mindset. A low-AQ answer reveals panic or a need for constant direction.
The "Failure" Question:
- Instead of: "What is your biggest weakness?"
- Ask: "Walk me through a significant professional failure. I'm less interested in the failure itself and more interested in how you recovered and what you did differently in your very next project because of it."
- Listen for: Ownership and accountability. Concrete examples of changed behavior. A low-AQ answer is defensive and lacks specific learnings.

Step 3: The AQ Red Flags to Watch For.

Over-reliance on "how we did it at my last company."
Blaming external factors for all failures.
A vocabulary that is rigid and full of jargon, with little curiosity.
Visible discomfort when discussing ambiguity or failure.

Beyond Hiring: You Must Lead for AQ

You cannot hire a team of adaptable superstars and then force them into a rigid, low-AQ culture. That's how you lose them.

Cultivating AQ is a leadership responsibility. It means creating psychological safety where intelligent failure is a learning tool, not a career-ender. It means rewarding curiosity as much as you reward results.

This is where leadership development becomes critical. As an ICF-accredited Executive Coach, this is precisely what I work on with my C-suite and senior management clients. We build their personal AQ, so they can model the resilience and mental flexibility their teams need to see. We create the leadership conditions for adaptability to flourish.

The Ultimate Question for Every Leader

The question is no longer "Who is the best candidate on paper?" but "Who is the most adaptable candidate for the chaos ahead?"

One path is finding these high-AQ leaders for you. As a specialist luxury headhunter, I've made identifying this trait the core of my search process.

The other path is developing the AQ within the team you already have.

Which path does your organization need to prioritize right now?

Like this article. Comment with your single best question for testing AQ. Share it with your HR partner and hiring managers. And visit [www.trouve-executive.com] to discuss how we can build your team's AQ advantage, together.

IQ讓你得到工作，EQ讓你獲得晉升。在亞太區的奢侈品亂局中，只有AQ能拯救你

上星期，我們診斷了「亞太區人才大流失」。我們剖析了那些從上海到悉尼，正在摧毀團隊的獨特「倦怠特徵」。市場反應非常熱烈，印證了一個殘酷的現實：舊的領導力劇本已經過時。

今天，我們從診斷走向治療。

數十年來，我們為IQ（智商）而招聘，為EQ（情商）而晉升。這個公式現在已經變得危險地不完整。在一個永久混亂的時代，中國消費者可能一夜之間轉向，一個新的社交平台可以一星期內顛覆你的市場策略，人才有了一種新的貨幣：AQ（逆境應變商數，Adaptability Quotient）。

AQ不只是韌性。它是在高速中學習、忘記、再重新學習的能力。它是在模糊不清的狀態中茁壯成長、在混亂中看到機遇的思維彈性。而現在，AQ的缺失，正是一個隱藏在你損益表上，價值數百萬美元的問題。

AQ的赤字：它如何助長我們診斷出的倦怠

讓我們將AQ與你的團隊當下正承受的壓力直接聯繫起來：

在中國： 我們討論過的「戰略性疲勞」是一個低AQ的症狀。一個低AQ的團隊會被不斷的轉向搞得筋疲力盡。而一個 高AQ的團隊 會將轉向視為一個需要解決的謎題，一個超越對手的機會。
在日本與韓國： 同時服務遊客和VICs的「服務精神分裂」會耗盡一個低AQ團隊的精力。而一個 高AQ的團隊 能無縫地調整其溝通風格，本能地切換服務模式，而不會有精神上的倦怠。
在香港與台灣： 「超級競爭下的倦怠」會壓垮一個低AQ的個體。而一個 高AQ的專業人士 擁有內在的韌性，將巨大的壓力視為提升表現的磨刀石，而非個人威脅。
在東南亞與澳紐： 快速增長帶來的「結構性倦怠」會讓一個低AQ的領導者不堪重負。而一個 高AQ的領導者 會將「邊飛邊造飛機」的混亂，定義為一個令人興奮的創業挑戰。

為AQ而招聘，不再是「有就更好」。它是你今天在人才管理上，可以做出的最重要的一個戰略決策。

AQ招聘手冊：如何在面試中發現適應力

不要再問「你五年後想達到什麼位置？」。五年計劃已死。開始問那些能揭示候選人核心適應力的問題。

第一步：解構履歷，尋找規律而非路徑。尋找適應的證據。他們是否成功應對過公司危機？是否在截然不同的職能間轉換過（例如，從採購到電商）？是否啟動過一個史無前例的項目？一條線性的、可預測的職業道路，可能是一個低AQ的警號。

第二步：AQ面試守則。將這些問題整合到你下一次的面試中。它們的答案比任何能力測試都更能揭示真相。

「忘記學習」的問題：
- 不要問： 「告訴我一次你的成功經驗。」
- 應該問： 「告訴我，你有沒有一次對我們行業或消費者的核心信念，後來被證明是錯的？你當時必須忘記什麼舊知識？」
- 聆聽重點： 謙遜、拋棄舊知識的能力，以及對新現實的真誠好奇。低AQ的答案會歸咎於外在因素。
「模糊狀態」的問題：
- 不要問： 「你如何處理壓力？」
- 應該問： 「描述一個重要項目，當時的指示不清晰或中途改變了。請詳細講述你當時的思考過程，以及你最先採取的幾個步驟。」
- 聆聽重點： 傾向於行動、從混亂中創造結構的能力，以及冷靜、解決問題的心態。低AQ的答案會顯露出恐慌或需要持續的指示。
「失敗經歷」的問題：
- 不要問： 「你最大的弱點是什麼？」
- 應該問： 「詳細講述一次重大的職業失敗。我對失敗本身興趣不大，我更想知道你如何恢復過來，以及因為這次經歷，你在下一個項目中做了哪些不同的事。」
- 聆聽重點： 主人翁精神和責任感。具體的、已改變的行為例子。低AQ的答案充滿防衛性，且缺乏具體的學習。