I finally read the Daniel Goleman’s classic, bestselling book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ. A few years ago I read Goleman’s Primal Leadership, the business-version of Emotional Intelligence, and loved it.
Here are a few pages of notes I typed up on this book.
Here’s the excerpt that tells you everything:
Much evidence testifies that people who are emotionally adept — who know and manage their own feelings well, and who read and deal effectively with other people’s feelings — are at an advantage in any domain of life, whether romance and intimate relationships or picking the unspoken rules that govern success in organizational politics. People with well-developed emotional skills are also more likely to be content and effective in their lives, mastering the habits of mind that foster their own productivity; people who cannot marshal some control over their emotional life fight inner battles that sabotage their ability for focused work and clear thought.
Your emotional intelligence (EI), Goleman argues, may be the single most important factor in your ability to succeed in the real world, interact in groups, form intimate relationships, and lead a happy life. Goleman says several times that EI is a far better indicator than IQ or academic performance when evaluating someone’s competence at piloting their own life.
I highly recommend this book.
Ben,
Thanks for the review. I went through your book outline. I have a request to make, it is possible for you to write a small section in the outline or a new blog entry on how the book suggests one increase or enhance their EQ?
I would really appreciate it and it will be useful for others.
The book has been on my reading shelf since 1999, this might make it easier to get some of the principals of EQ before I read the book.
Thanks and Regards
Amit
Hi Amit,
I’ll try and save Ben a job here. ‘Emotional Intelligence’ is a great book in many ways but it’s very light on ways to enhance EQ. From memory, Goleman suggests meditation and keeping an ’emotional journal’ as ways of improving self-awareness. Sound advice, but that’s about it.
For more practical advice, try Jill Dann’s ‘Emotional Intelligence In A Week’ or my own booklet ’55 Ways To Increase Your Emotional Intelligence’.
You could also look at my Squidoo Lens on the subject which links to some other blogs and lenses with practical EI advice: http://www.squidoo.com/practicaleq
Hello Ben:
I enjoyed your overview of Daniel Goleman’s book. I agree with Andy Smith that much of the literature focuses on a technical overview of EI. I have written a 23 page book called “Tune Up Your Emotional Intelligence” to address this gap. There are practical exercises at the end of each chapter, which turns it into a powerful learning journal. It’s available as a free pdf download at my website http://www.tuneupyoureq.com. I also list practical EI enhancing tips at my EI blog http://www.tuneupyoureq.com/category/blog/
Hi Ben, Thanks for the review.