# What is Motivational Intelligence (MQ)? - **Episode:** [165](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/165.md) (2025-01-23) - **Type:** interview - **Tags:** motivational-intelligence, mq, leadership, training - **Time:** 4:34–9:21 (start 274s) - **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/165?t=274](https://truthliesandwork.com/165?t=274) --- [4:34] James Fleming: So my name is James Fleming. I'm the Managing Director and co-founder of our training and development company called The Power Within Training. We are a leadership development, business growth, we do executive coaching, business coaching, kind of all of that kind of personal and professional development. What are we famous for? Well, 2 words, and it's called motivational intelligence. And it is what we call the 3rd and probably the most important level of intelligence that us as human beings or Homo sapiens actually hold. I don't know, maybe we'll talk a lot More about that as we go through this morning [5:15] Leanne Elliott: We absolutely will. And I think that's where we should, where we should start. What is motivational intelligence? [5:21] James Fleming: In a nutshell, is how do we identify and manage what's going on in our head that doesn't serve purpose for ourselves? But more importantly, from a leadership point of view, how do we do that for people within our business? And that's motivational intelligence, is being able to sit and have a conversation with someone and really understand by a series of questions And there's obviously a framework around what we've created, and enabling us to really find out, you know, what's going on in their mind? What's going on in their life? How can I help them? Because, you know, we've got a huge belief. And this is again, MQ, motivational intelligence, by the way, is you might hear me referring to MQ throughout the program, because that's the terminology. You've got EQ, which is emotional intelligence, you've got IQ, which is intelligent quotation. So MQ is your motivational intelligence [6:16] Leanne Elliott: Yeah [6:16] James Fleming: So anyway, what was I saying there? Yes, it's how do we communicate that with other people? You know, you get people in our business and organization who are maybe high performers and something went on in their life and all of a sudden they've kind of really dropped off. Well, the stereotypical leadership and management is, oh, you know, James is just no good any longer. And, you know, he's just, he's off the boil and I don't have time. But what's going on in their life? What's going on in their mind? There's a reason for it. That's understanding and managing other people's motivational intelligence, which is absolutely critical in today's new generation of leadership. You know what, we call it the trust and inspire leadership mindset [6:58] Leanne Elliott: So to expand on, on that example that you've given us, if I'm at work, I'm going through something else that is— my performance has dipped. Is that a reflection of my motivational intelligence? [7:12] James Fleming: Yes [7:13] Leanne Elliott: To have not managed that situation well enough that my performance has dipped? [7:16] James Fleming: Yes, at that particular point in your life. And your motivational intelligence is going to have different levels depending on whether you're at work, whether you're at home. So as it's— so it's a level of your— so you're, you're not motivated, you're not. So stick with that scenario. So your performance has dipped, there's something going on in your life, it's constantly on your mind. So, you're not managing those because ultimately, the only thing that drops your performance or levels of confidence is negative thoughts, right? That's it. It's pure and simple. It's your negative self-limiting thoughts and beliefs that you're not good enough, you're too stressed, you've got too much going on at home, when really, humans are incredible. We have something that virtually no other animal on the planet has, and that's choice [8:05] Leanne Elliott: Yeah [8:06] James Fleming: We can choose to manage those negative thoughts and self-limiting beliefs, or we can choose to allow them to overcome us, tell that negative story, and all of a sudden, we'll go down that spiral. And that's motivational intelligence. Because once you learn, this is so critical and why motivational intelligence leadership is, in my opinion, Absolutely game-changing leadership. Because once you learn it, you cannot unlearn it. You cannot unlearn it. It's like learning 1 times 1 and 2 times 2. Once you know it, you can't unlearn it. It's almost ingrained in that thought process. And that's what we do different from most leadership and why MQ Leadership, in my opinion, is going to be then absolutely huge in the world of leadership and management development [9:02] Leanne Elliott: So how is it different from emotional intelligence? Because emotional intelligence involves regulating our emotions as well as the empathy and compassion that we, we hear more about. How is MQ unique in that respect in terms of us helping to create that more positive mindset, set more healthy boundaries, and regulate our emotions?