[.ca] Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ (ISBN 055309503X)

From Amazon.com:
The Western cultures esteem analytical skills measured by IQ tests: but there is clearly more to success and happiness, even in technological societies, than IQ alone. Goleman has written one of the best books on the nature and importance of other kinds of intelligence besides our perhaps overly beloved IQ. Recommended.

You have to try the Emotional Intelligence PowerPoint!:
I bought the book along with the recommended Emotional Intelligence PowerPoint, which is just a terrific resource! It's a complete presentation on emotional intelligence (which saved me a lot of work) but the great thing is it plays movie clips right from the presentation to illustrate each of the emotional intelligence skills. My audience really grasped the concept and was entertained enough to give me 100% of their attention for the full hour. Really great!

Significant topic, questionable presentation:
The importance of emotional intelligence was proven to me early on in this book, especially with the author's neurological explanations of the brain. Daniel Coleman used a variety of approaches to prove the importance of emotional intelligence including: neuroscience, biology, and case studies. Yet, some of the directions the author chose to take lost my interest. The case studies could have been abbreviated and maybe the classification of emotions could have been expanded on. The book demonstrated the dire consequences of not learning emotional intelligence and sometimes used extreme examples which seemed unnecessary. However, this pioneering book (albeit somewhat outdated) deserves attention. For me the book started well with references to Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics," making a connection between the wisdom that Aristotle exalted and emotional intelligence. The book went on to explain how the physical components of the brain affect emotional behavior; here the amygdala is explained, which is the control center for emotional behavior, and is referred to throughout the book. This biology and neuroscience clarified how rudimentary emotional behavior is in the human brain. In part three, the author showed progressive thinking in his belief that the medical profession must consider emotional factors. Since the book's publication, medical schools have agreed with him. On June 10, 2004, the Wall Street Journal reported that graduates from all 126 medical schools in the U.S. will take a standardized test that will rate "bedside manner." According to the article, this test will "gauge what multiple-choice questions cannot: a graduate's ability to communicate with patients..." In parts Four and Five my interest waned as the author discussed how emotional training can save society. Although the author suggests key improvements to pedagogy, the case studies and extreme examples of what can go wrong with the emotional brain belabored the topic for me. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is closely analyzed, as is trauma, abuse, and bullies - all valid areas for discussion but beyond what is needed for demonstrating what emotional intelligence is and why it is important. Violence, social aggression, and certain neuroses resulting from emotional problems could have been explained in a shorter section. But the author deserves credit for offering solutions, and has an interesting theory that modernity is the cause for a worldwide trend of melancholy. I would have liked more of the book devoted to the challenge of defining emotions. Of interest to me was Appendix A because it revealed the classification attempts made for emotions. The section considers a handful of "core" emotions with all other emotions being a blend of these; there also might be families of emotions with many nuances affecting moods and temperament. This book reveals a big-picture outlook of the human brain and the emotional activity that is an intrinsic part of it. The thesis that emotional intelligence can be more important than IQ is well supported, but the author is not saying that it is necessarily better! (Previous reviewers of the book have created an EQ-versus-IQ contest.) Both are critical facets of intelligence that must work together and neither can be dismissed.

How to understand emotions and make the most of them:
I read this book in 1997 and was fascinated with the content, especially information about "flooding" ie. when we are emotionally overloaded and we can't respond effectively. I was also particularly interested in Dr. Goleman's research into the components of emotional intelligence -- self-awareness, impulse control, persistence, zeal and self-motivation, empathy and social deftness. Dr. Goleman explains what happens to us neurologically when we experience emotions and why emotional intelligence is important. After reading his book, I was left with questions such as, "What do my emotions mean? How do I deal with my emotions when they occur?" These questions are specifically answered in Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self by Dr. Rosalene Glickman. Dr. Glickman explains why and how each emotion is experienced, the messages they bring, and questions to ask yourself and others to best resolve emotions and achieve emotional mastery. In my opinion, these books belong in every family and in every workplace.

Emotional Intelligence Quickbook:
For a quick read on emotional intelligence using Daniel Goleman's model, check out Bradberry and Greaves' "Emotional Intelligence Quickbook". It tells me everything I need to know about this hot topic.

Before it got crowded:
Most of the great industrialists had one thing in common; they were able to give credit where credit was due. This is a lost art in the management of humans in today's concentrated environment that depends upon statistics and numbers. No man or woman ever created a number that wasn't backed by the self discipline that enabled him or her to give the level of commitment that came with the desire to give that commitment. If they do, they fall upon deaf and dumb hearts, and are bound to be used for different uses than the ones intended. Passionate commitment is the only thing that ever changed a life, or lives, and the main thing that determines success that might be predictable. Without commitment, marriage fail, even if they appear to work. Without commitment, incentives are little help to the people trying to use them to create wealth, for themselves or for others. Negative commitment alway works worst to produce desirable outcomes because they never carry a reciprocal commitment to get the job done, and to do it well. The pride of passion and success is the single most important component of a job well done, and a job well loved, by which great things are made possible because of the commitment brought to the job, that is felt within, and rarely without the internal commitment that defines and fuels the task to be done, often with a sense of vision for accomplishment as well as for the harmony that enables teamwork to exist that relies upon it, as opposed to the tyranny that sometimes fuels efficiency and completion of tasks that may be unpleasant but necessary to be done. A positive outlook is essential to most quality jobs and often underestimated in its power to create powerful results. Among groups, failure to recognize credit where credit is due destroys more groups than not, and strains the ones where it is not present. Groups break down at varying levels, but almost always at the lower levels from the negligence of the upper levels to give that due credit, and to respect its presence as important to any organization. Failure is always a managerial negligence, and false rewards are immediately noticeable to the participants of any group because they deal daily with the results of performance that would be the criteria by which management determines successful performance to offer those rewards. Underlings usually know the score, and often better than management because of its isolation. Misplaced credit is as damaging to organizations as those where it is non-existent since it destroys not only faith but also integrity. Emotional IQ is far more valuable to the organization for this reason. Maintaining the integrity of the group is crucial to its success, and sometimes, to its survival. Faith is as asset to integrity, but only a part of what makes any organization valuable since better times can be managed, or sustained, during times of hardship, but integrity forms the heart of commitment for most who are associated with, and determine the vitality of the entire organization through bad times or good. There is no replacement when destroyed, either intentionally or accidentally, and few apologies are effective to heal those deep wounds. Relationship or relational discrimination is the distinction that makes the different in any organization, and those which cultivate the image of equity generally do equity. Those that don't suffer the effects of their lack of commitment by revealing their flaws, not only to insiders but also to outsiders. Emotional intelligence often relies upon intuition to determine its presence or absence.