Press & Media — HIGH TQ
For Immediate Release · August 4, 2026
Press & Media
New Book Names the Third Intelligence — The Missing Layer Behind Every Agreement, Commitment, and Outcome
“Transactional Intelligence®” joins IQ and EQ as a named, teachable competency for the exchanges that produce every professional result.
“Transactional Intelligence® names a third intelligence — the ability to conduct human exchanges that produce ethical outcomes. Practical, teachable, and long overdue.”
The Book at a Glance
- Title
- HIGH TQ: Why It Matters More Than Expertise
- Series
- Transactional Intelligence® — Book 1
- Authors
- Kirkland Tibbels & John Patterson
- Publisher
- Influential U®
- Publication Date
- August 4, 2026
- Formats & Pricing
- Hardcover $27.99 · Paperback $19.99 · Kindle $9.99
- Category
- Leadership · Organizational Behavior · Business Communication · Management
- Available
- Amazon · tqbooks.com
About the Book
For decades, the conversation about human performance has centered on two intelligences: IQ, which measures what you can think, and EQ, which measures what you can feel. HIGH TQ: Why It Matters More Than Expertise names and teaches the third — Transactional Intelligence® (TQ) — the structured methodology for the human exchanges that produce every agreement, commitment, and outcome.
TQ is not a communication style, a personality type, or a set of negotiation techniques. It is a methodology for the layer beneath every conversation — the exchange layer that determines whether expertise, talent, and goodwill actually produce results. Most professionals sense it exists. Few have ever had language for it. HIGH TQ provides that language.
At the center of the book is a reframe that challenges one of the most common criticisms in modern organizational life. What people call “transactional” behavior — cold, extractive, one-sided — is not the opposite of purposeful leadership. It is bad transacting. The problem is not the category; it is the execution. And execution can be taught.
The book teaches four components of TQ: the Transaction Cycle™ (eight exchanges that structure every consequential conversation), the Narratives of the Transaction Cycle™ (the specific language each exchange requires), Personality in Transaction™ (four patterns that determine how people enter and exit the cycle), and the Infinity Loops™ (the predictable breakdown patterns that trap even high-performing teams).
The Gap Isn’t Your Expertise. It Never Was.
“High TQ names that hidden layer between engagement and actualization — giving readers the framework to finally see what’s been invisible. A must read.”
Key Talking Points
For interviews, podcast conversations, and editorial context.
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01
The world has named IQ and EQ. No one has named what comes next — until now.
IQ measures cognitive capacity. EQ measures emotional awareness. Neither addresses the structure of the exchange itself — the layer where outcomes are actually produced. HIGH TQ names that layer and gives professionals the methodology to navigate it deliberately.
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02
“Transactional” has been mislabeled — and the mislabeling is costly.
What most organizations call “transactional” behavior is not the absence of warmth or the opposite of purposeful leadership. It is bad transacting. We have pathologized the category instead of the execution — and that error has cost organizations the one competency that determines whether expertise produces results.
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03
In the AI era, the exchange layer becomes the most valuable human competency.
As AI takes over the cognitive layer, the exchange layer — where every commitment, agreement, and outcome is actually produced — becomes the defining human competency. TQ is the intelligence that compounds in value as AI handles everything below it.
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04
Every outcome is produced through an exchange — and exchanges have structure.
The Transaction Cycle™ is the eight-exchange framework beneath every consequential professional conversation — from the first invitation to the final assessment. Most people move through this cycle without seeing it. TQ makes it visible.
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05
Every personality type has a predictable loop — and loops can be interrupted.
The Infinity Loops™ name the four predictable breakdown patterns that trap even high-performing teams. Each loop has a departure point — the moment when a personality type exits the cycle and begins repeating a pattern. Seeing the loop is the first step to breaking it.
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06
High TQ is not warmth. It is the ability to navigate any exchange consciously.
High TQ is not about being nicer, warmer, or more empathetic. It is the capacity to move through any exchange — cold, hard, or consequential — without breaking it. The exchange completes. The outcome is produced. That is the promise of High TQ.
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07
TQ is teachable — and Influential U has been teaching it since 2009.
Unlike IQ (largely fixed) or EQ (incrementally developed), TQ is a structured methodology that can be taught, practiced, and measured. Influential U has delivered TQ programs to practitioners across more than twenty countries. HIGH TQ is the first public translation of that work.
Suggested Interview Questions
On the Concept
- What is Transactional Intelligence, and what does it add that IQ and EQ don’t cover?
- You describe a “hidden layer” beneath every conversation — what is that layer, and why has it been so difficult to name?
- How did the TQ methodology emerge from Kirkland’s philosophical research and your practitioner work?
On the Reframe
- You argue that what we call “transactional” behavior is actually just bad transacting — can you walk us through that?
- Why have organizations pathologized the category of transacting rather than improving the quality of it?
On the Methodology
- What is the Transaction Cycle™, and how does it show up in everyday professional exchanges?
- You describe four personality types in transaction — how do they interact, and why does personality matter at the level of exchange?
- What are the Infinity Loops™? Why do smart teams keep producing the same breakdowns?
On Relevance
- How does TQ become even more important in an era where AI handles so much of the cognitive layer?
- What does a High TQ leader look like in practice — what is the observable difference?
Endorsements
“Transactional Intelligence® names a third intelligence — the ability to conduct human exchanges that produce ethical outcomes. Practical, teachable, and long overdue.”
“Once you can see the structure underneath your exchanges, everything about how you lead changes. This book is the missing piece I didn’t know I was looking for.”
“High TQ names that hidden layer between engagement and actualization — giving readers the framework to finally see what’s been invisible. A must read.”
“It is the missing link in how we understand leadership, success, and power — recognizing how the structure of our exchanges shapes our ability to influence events and create positive outcomes.”
Media Assets
Hi-res assets for editorial use. Please credit Influential U®.
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Media Contact
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