Does Training Really Equal Job Success?

I recently sat through a webinar that featured Shawn Anchor, the Harvard researcher and author of the book entitled "The Happiness Advantage".  What I learned was that only 25% of a person's success in his or her job was directly related to IQ-the other 75% was related to the person's EQ, or emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence often describes someone's ability to connect within a company's three existing informal networks of a) communications webs (individuals who are talked to most), b) expertise webs (individuals to whom you turn for technical advice), and c) trust networks (individuals in whom you can confide with sensitive information).

As a training professional, I started to wonder, "Is training really necessary in order for someone to be successful in his or her position?"  Like the bumper sticker I recently saw that posed the thought-provoking comment, "Maybe the hokey pokey IS what it's all about", I began to think...maybe relationships are what it's all about.

While EQ does get a person far in life (and apparently in his or her career also), one certainly can't expect to jump into a position without proper training and credentials by simply having a relationship with the hiring manager.  Simply put, education (both informal and formal) opens doors that sometimes even the most connected person finds locked.