What Is a PQ Score?

How is a PQ score worked out?

A PQ score is worked out from your own answers to a short questionnaire about how often you have experienced certain feelings and thoughts recently. Some describe constructive states, such as gratitude, curiosity and calm focus. Others describe the reactive states that the saboteurs produce, such as worry, irritation, guilt and stress.

The result is expressed as a percentage: roughly, the share of your mental time spent in a helpful state rather than a sabotaging one. The assessment and the thinking behind it belong to Positive Intelligence, and the Positive Intelligence website is the authoritative source for the current version and how it is scored.

What counts as a good PQ score?

Positive Intelligence describes a PQ of about 75 as a tipping point. Above it, the framework argues, your mind tends to lift you upward; below it, the saboteurs drag on your energy, relationships and performance. The specific figure is the framework's own claim, so check the detail on the official site rather than treating it as a universal law.

In coaching, the number itself matters less than its direction. A leader who moves steadily upwards from a modest starting point is building something real. A leader who scores well once, on a calm holiday week, has learned very little.

What can a PQ score tell a leader, and what can it not?

A PQ score is a useful snapshot of your recent inner climate, but it has clear limits. It is easiest to use well when you know both sides.

• ✦For how others see you, a 360-degree feedback process is the better tool.
• ✦For the patterns behind a low score, start with the 10 saboteurs.

How do you raise a PQ score?

You raise a PQ score through small, frequent practice rather than one big insight. The framework builds three mental muscles, and each can be trained in a working day.

1. 01

   Intercept the saboteurs

   Notice when a saboteur is speaking, name it and decline its advice. The earlier you catch it, the less it costs.

2. 02

   Strengthen focus with PQ reps

   PQ reps are brief exercises, often about ten seconds, that shift your attention to a physical sensation such as your breath or your fingertips. They interrupt reactive thinking and are designed to fit between meetings.

3. 03

   Build the Sage

   Practise asking curious, empathetic, forward-looking questions about a problem instead of reacting to it.

4. 04

   Repeat daily

   Consistency matters more than intensity. Positive Intelligence structures its programme around daily practice over several weeks for this reason.

Why does a PQ score move from week to week?

A PQ score moves because it reflects recent experience, not a fixed trait. A quarter close, a difficult board, a family illness or a change in routine can all lower it for a while. In the Gulf, Ramadan working hours, the summer travel season and year-end reporting can shift the rhythm of a leader's days enough to show up in the score.

That variation is information, not failure. When a score dips, the useful question is what happened that week and which saboteur took the lead. My guide to daily mental fitness habits for leaders covers routines that hold steady through busy periods.

How might a leader use their score in practice?

Imagine an HR director in a large family-owned group who scores lower than she expected. Her first reaction is to judge the number, which is itself the Judge at work. Instead of trying to fix the score, she uses it to notice where her stress concentrates: the late evening messages she answers from the family shareholders.

She sets one experiment: a short PQ rep before opening any evening message, and a firm cut-off on two nights a week. A month later, her score has risen a little, but the bigger change is that she reacts less and decides more. This is an illustrative scenario, not a client story, but it shows the score doing its proper job as a prompt for practice.

Where does coaching come in?

Coaching turns a PQ score from a curiosity into a plan. A coach helps you see the pattern behind the number, choose the right practice and stay with it when work gets busy. My mental fitness coaching uses the Positive Intelligence tools alongside one-to-one sessions, in person in Manama or online.

Mental fitness coaching is not therapy or medical treatment. It works with performance, thinking habits and behaviour. If you are struggling with your mental health, please speak to a doctor or a licensed mental health professional; coaching can sit alongside that care.