Have you ever wondered what it takes to get you to the top in tax? Do you need to be an intellectual heavyweight with an IQ that borders on MENSA proportions or is it your softer skills (your EQ - Emotional Intelligence Quotient)that will steer you through?

Tax has changed over the last few years - we still see a high demand for those bright sparks who can navigate their way through complex tax legislation but increasingly, the need to be able to sell ideas, understand your customer and empathise at all levels has become important. Is one more important than the other? I guess it depends on where you work...if you are in industry, perhaps the need to promote tax to other ares of the business, calls into play your communication skills and the need to explain complex tax theory in laymans' terms. In the accountancy profesion, being a technical expert in your field will usually take you far but perhaps there is less emphasis on hard sell?

With all these things it is about balance...if you have the technicals and softer stuff, it will always be a winning combination.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts.