Speaking of China, while touring a  job fair in Tianjin last week, China’s President Xi Jiping  answered his own question to a local official as to what the critical ingredients of  good Communist leaders are.

“Intelligence quotient and emotional quotient – which is more important?” the president evidently asked.  When the official answered “both,” it was reported that Xi surprised the world by saying that it is emotional intelligence that is “important for adapting to society, although it should be used together with professional knowledge and techniques.”

After his comments were made, strong media attention prompted “Study Times,” a publication of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China, to publish a 3,000-word article entitled “Emotional Quotient and its three major components,” which you can peruse in Chinese.

Back in the super-sophisticated, business-savvy US, the opening lines of a recent article on what law firms are looking for in recruits read: “it’s like pornography: It’s tricky to define, but you know it when you see it. I’m talking about emotional intelligence (“EI” for the cognoscenti), the latest buzz phrase that’s been embraced by law firms.”  The author goes on to say that in spite of the increasing use of EI testing for admission and training purposes in medical schools and business schools, and even in some law firms, “I’ll bet many lawyers still regard ’emotional intelligence’ as a oxymoron.”

We would suggest that by the time China’s president has pronounced an edict nationally about the value of some attribute to leadership, America’s lawyers should have spent at least as much time entertaining that concept as they have pornography.  Conceptually speaking, of course.

Otherwise, it’s hard to honestly lay claim to the kind of arrogance that we are known for.