Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman

Dec 27, 2010

Susan rated it

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Shelves: business, good-read, leadership, psychology, non-fiction, self-help

First, let me clarify that I have nothing overtly negative to say about this book. When I first read it back in 1995, it was wonderful to have my eyes opened to emotional intelligence. Goleman is an excellent writer and presents a great deal of thought-provoking content. Where it falls short is in teaching you how to increase and apply your emotional intelligence. Emotional Intelligence 2.0 is a brand-new book that moves way beyond teaching you what EQ is. It shows you how to increase your EQ an...moreFirst, let me clarify that I have nothing overtly negative to say about this book. When I first read it back in 1995, it was wonderful to have my eyes opened to emotional intelligence. Goleman is an excellent writer and presents a great deal of thought-provoking content. Where it falls short is in teaching you how to increase and apply your emotional intelligence. Emotional Intelligence 2.0 is a brand-new book that moves way beyond teaching you what EQ is. It shows you how to increase your EQ and how to use it to your advantage based on 66 detailed strategies. You take an online test that comes with the book and it gives you your EQ scores and tells you which strategies will increase your EQ the most.

Enough about that, let me tell you more about what makes Goleman's book great:

Goleman, psychologist and science writer for The New York Times, explains how the rational and emotional work together to shape intelligence, using intriguing new information from neuroscience and psychology of the brain. It details why IQ is not the sole predictor of success, and it reviews powerful academic studies that show how emotional intelligence impacts important life outcomes.

He uses scientific data from studies based on brain imaging technologies that yield understanding of how emotions work and, argues the author, suggest ways to regulate the more negative emotions responsible for the horrendous acts of violence that are the stuff of daily headlines. The book calls for universal adoption of educational curricula that teach youngsters how to regulate their emotional responses and to resolve conflict peacefully. Along the way Goleman summarizes much of the best psychological work of the last few decades on such topics as the importance of learned optimism, the theory of multiple intelligences, the role of innate temperamental differences, and the importance of emotional intelligence in marriage, management, and medicine. The empirical data Goleman uses is well-researched. To be perfectly honest, it doesn't possess any information on improving your EQ. The only other weakness is the book is dense (the exploration of EQ is largely academic).
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May 25, 2011

محمود أغيورلي rated it

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الذكاء العاطفي - دانييل جولمان -
-----------------------------------
»أن يغضب أي إنسان , فهذا
أمر سهل ... لكن أن تغضب
من الشخص ا لمناسب , وفي
الوقت ا لمناسب , وللهدف
ا لمناسب , وبالأسلوب ا لمناسب
... فليس هذا بالأمر
السهل... «
من كتاب أرسطو
»الأخلاق إلى نيقوماخوس
--------------------
القدرة على السيطرة على الانفعال هي أساس الإرادة وأساس الشخصية ,
وعلى النحو نفسه فإن أساس مشاعر الإيثار فينا يكمن في التعاطف
الوجداني مع الآخرين , أي في القدرة...more

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Apr 28, 2009

Andy rated it

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It certainly contains a lot of useful info, but boy, is it ever dense! Reading it is like hacking your way through a dense jungle with a dull machete. It must also be noted that it is most definitely of the school of 80's/90's "hard-wired" thinking about the brain, and hard-sells the view that, to put it simply, mind comes from brain, and not the other way around. In other words, nature, not nurture. (For comparison, try Sharon Begley's Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain, which, o...more

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Jim I get similar feelings when reading reviews of The Da Vinci Code. Many people love it; I thought it was dreck.

About the Goleman book, a l...more
Apr 25, 2008 08:22am

Dana I haven't finished but I get the sense that his view is that children might have some hope but leaves no answer for adults who may be emotionally comp...more
Jul 12, 2010 01:53pm

Dec 16, 2008

Stevie rated it

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Shelves: secular

Insightful book on the importance of relating well with others and being in tune with one's emotions.

Poignant Quotes:

...childhood and adolescence are critical windows of opportunity for setting down the essential emotional habits that will govern our lives.

...social intelligence is both distinct from academic abilities and a key part of what makes people do well in the practicalities of life.

social competence - how well or poorly people express the...more

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Aug 15, 2007

Gage marked it as to-read · review of another edition

If you're like me, you're extremely leery of anything that reeks of pop psychology. But Emotional Intelligence has no such odor. First, author Daniel Goleman is the real deal. He has his PhD, of course, as do many snake oil salesmen, but unlike these others, Goleman has academic street cred: he founded an institute at Yale, heads up another at Rutgers, and wrote science columns for the New York Times.

At first glance, I can see that this book, though written more than 10 years ago, st...more

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Apr 30, 2007

Kristl rated it

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Recommends it for: anyone who throws things when angry or doesn't cry, ever

I had to read this book for a leadership academy I was in and I found this to be a surprisingly good experience.

The book introduces and explains the concept of "emotional intelligence," which, since beginning to read the book, I see is so much more important than almost any other awareness one could have on a day-to-day basis personally and professionally.

Don't be shocked, if, in describing the many levels of emotional intelligence or lack thereof, you immediate...more

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Oct 18, 2007

Tina rated it

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I read this book after a big break up and it really opened my eyes to how I contributed to that break up. It's extremely important to have emotional intelligence and this is a fascinating discussion behind the theory and sscience of EI.

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Jun 05, 2011

Joy H. rated it

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Shelves: might-read-again, non-fiction, psychology-emotions, audio-version

RE: _Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition; Why It Can Matter More Than IQ_ by Daniel Goleman (first published 1995)
Added 6/5/11.
I recently came across some old notes of mine which indicated that I had listened to an audio-tape of this book. My notes said:
============================================
"I think we all can be impatient at times (often with good reason), but it's how we handle that emotion which really matters. On the audiotape entitled: "...more

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Oct 04, 2010

Jim rated it

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Shelves: neuroscience-cognition-behavior, favorites

This visionary book by Daniel Goleman is one of the most important in my collection. I see it as a seminal contribution to understanding the human condition, and a roadmap of practical steps for living better, both within ourselves and with those around us.

I begin by recommending the excellent review by Lars - a clear, well-written summary of the major points in the book.

Here I will focus on 3 topics from the book: 1) the evolution of brain mechanisms for emotional and ra...more

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Feb 07, 2009

Elizabeth rated it

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Shelves: ralph

BOOKS ON TAPE # 4055 Read by Barrett Whitener 9 cassettes UNABRIDGED
9 cassetes
tape 1 ch 1 The word emotion shows us that the feeling shows us what to move away from.

The emotions of anger, fear, happiness, love, surprise, disgust, sadness have physiological behaviors which help us move away from some threat or embody some hormonal/brain function which dampens other emotions.

Has an evolutionary perspective:"The protracted period of evolution when these emo...more

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Dec 31, 2008

Taka rated it

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Shelves: japan_jul07-aug10, social-science

Descriptive but not very practical--

The main and only thesis of the book is: emotional intelligence is important. That's it. Goleman spends over 13 hours in this audiobook to pretty much buttress the thesis with evidence from various sources including psychology, medicine, and educational programs.

The content is interesting at times but overall, the message got repetitive and I was looking for any useful information to put to use in my daily life from the book to no avai...more

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Jul 30, 2008

Kressel Housman rated it

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Shelves: non-fiction, psychology, unfinished, science

Carol Dweck cites this book frequently in her own book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success because it illustrates her thesis that success doesn't arise from talent or intellect but from the emotional qualities of patience and diligence. That's pretty much the point of this book, but there's more. It opens with an example of a straight A high school student whose teacher didn't write him a letter of recommendation for college, so he assaulted the teacher. All those A's won't do him a bit of go...more

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Apr 24, 2008

Jim rated it

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Shelves: non-fiction

There are some interesting things in the book, things that are hard to disagree with, such as emotional skills and self-knowledge are important. I think a lot of people who liked this book focused on that self-help aspect. I have no problem with that. My problems with this book stem from the wider claims Goleman makes for EQ as a mental function.

Goleman bases this aspect of his theory on some whopping assumptions. The biggest one is the idea that emotional intelligence even exists....moreThere are some interesting things in the book, things that are hard to disagree with, such as emotional skills and self-knowledge are important. I think a lot of people who liked this book focused on that self-help aspect. I have no problem with that. My problems with this book stem from the wider claims Goleman makes for EQ as a mental function.

Goleman bases this aspect of his theory on some whopping assumptions. The biggest one is the idea that emotional intelligence even exists. The main aspects of EQ he posits (self-awareness, social-awareness,etc.) aren't objectively measurable and there is no proof that they even correlate with one another on a neurological level, which we would see if these aspects were part of a measurable form of human intelligence.

Another assumption is that there is an acceptable norm of emotional intelligence. This raises the question, what about people who don't meet the norm? Under Goleman's narrow definition, people with autism, even many on the high-functioning end of the spectrum, would not qualify as possessing a desirable EQ level, neither would the introvert who prefers books to people. It is here that I found Goleman's ideas to be particularly objectionable. There's a whiff of something truly unpleasant here. However, we know that even people with severe autism are able to learn emotional skills.

Goleman makes the grand claim that, throughout history, great leaders all had high EQ levels. (As a historian, this made me cringe when I first read it.) Unless one has access to a person's psychiatric records, it is always extremely problematic to make all but the most qualified claims about the psychology of historical figures.

The EQ theory has many of the same flaws as theories of IQ. Older IQ tests assumed that intelligence was easily measured and that there was a single kind of intelligence. One frequently encountered people who had low IQ scores but who functioned intelligently or had highly advanced skills in some areas but not others. We now speak of multiple intelligences, seeing them as a skills set. We might be born with a tendency to some intelligences over others, but these are shaped by enviromental factors and can be influenced through learning, rather than something neurologically innate.

I'm willing to accept the idea that people are born with a range of abilities to recognize and respond to emotional interaction. I think these emotional responses are learned behaviors to a much greater degree than Goleman would allow. The problem with books like Goleman's is that it presents one side of a very contentious debate, but it might be the only book on the subject many people will read.

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Mar 06, 2008

Janet rated it

Shelves: business-management

I caught the "emotional intelligence" conversation early on with reading this seminal work by Daniel Goleman, and followed his work and then Boysatkis' work on Resonant Leadership. All of these books make the case that IQ is not as important as EQ. As the books and research progress (At Work, Primal leadership, Resonant Leadership), distinctions of what are key EQ skills are are shared. An extra step for me in my own self development of EQ was to learn how to listen to my heart vers...more

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Dec 28, 2010

Robin rated it

Shelves: therapy, 2010

Though a tad repetitive and probably a bit dated with its science I was blown away by this book. I usually avoid all self-help books but gave this one ago after being recommended by my therapist. The authors ability to explain the emotional brain and systems involved in them really helped me come to accept the need to integrate emotions w/ rationality. That the control and development of emotions is not a sign of weakness but actually helps you become a fuller human being and to experience a bet...more

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Mar 12, 2009

Ednatee rated it

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Every person must be able to understand and master his emotions if they are to succeed in life. Personal relationships suffer if they are left
unattended and ignored. Emotions can enrich our life as well as cause deprivation.

During the Victorian era, emotions were suppressed, and not often shown. Being emotional was a sign of weakness, impolite or even unwelcomed. People strove mightily to cover or contain their emotions. Not knowing how to express them properly, they chose not...more

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Dec 21, 2011

محمود أغيورلي rated it

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الذكاء العاطفي - دانييل جولمان -
-----------------------------------
»أن يغضب أي إنسان , فهذا
أمر سهل ... لكن أن تغضب
من الشخص ا لمناسب , وفي
الوقت ا لمناسب , وللهدف
ا لمناسب , وبالأسلوب ا لمناسب
... فليس هذا بالأمر
السهل... «
من كتاب أرسطو
»الأخلاق إلى نيقوماخوس
--------------------
القدرة على السيطرة على الانفعال هي أساس الإرادة وأساس الشخصية ,
وعلى النحو نفسه فإن أساس مشاعر الإيثار فينا يكمن في التعاطف
الوجداني مع الآخرين ...more

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Oct 09, 2011

Greg rated it

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This book has been around for a number of years. Shortly after it was published, I read an article in "Readers Digest" about it. The concept of emotional intelligence made sense to me. Well, now I've read the entire book.

This book is well-referenced, providing a mix of the physiological basis for the "emotional brain" as well as the practical realization of how emotions play out in our lives. While I don't agree with the author's evolutionary basis for the devel...moreThis book has been around for a number of years. Shortly after it was published, I read an article in "Readers Digest" about it. The concept of emotional intelligence made sense to me. Well, now I've read the entire book.

This book is well-referenced, providing a mix of the physiological basis for the "emotional brain" as well as the practical realization of how emotions play out in our lives. While I don't agree with the author's evolutionary basis for the development of the brain and its impact on emotions, it was fascinating to see how medical imaging and monitoring tools enable us to see into the brain and how it works with respect to our emotions.

Goleman's premise is that emotional intelligence may be more important than mental intelligence or IQ. He cites research that uses emotional intelligence as a predictor of future success, with higher correlation between emotional intelligence and success than IQ and success. The five "domains" of emotional intelligence are:
- Knowing one's emotions
- Managing emotions
- Motivating oneself
- Recognizing emotions in others
- Handling relationships

I have a couple of gripes with this book. Goleman cites much research to support the five domains, how they do or don't develop in individuals, and how they contribute to success in life. However, much of this research is tentative in nature. Words such as "hypothesize," "believe," and "presume" are sprinkled liberally throughout the discussion by the researchers. In other words, they've seen indications of emotional intelligence in their research, and they think it operates in this and such a manner. In addition, much of the research is on individuals or groups who exhibit the absence of one or more facets of emotional intelligence in the extreme. (Research subjects are often disadvantaged, with clinically-significant behavioral problems, or otherwise emotionally not in the mainstream.) Based on this speculative research on emotionally-disturbed people, Goleman concludes that emotional intelligence is significant enough of a subject that it should be taught to children in schools (apparently because parents no longer teach these important aspects of character development).

I believe all aspects of our culture need to provide opportunities to understand and develop one's emotions. Parents, day-care providers, teachers, youth leaders -- anyone who interacts with children -- should help children learn to understand and manage their emotions, be sympathetic to others' emotions, motivate themselves, delay gratification, etc. Awareness of the importance of emotions, how they operate physiologically and practically, and how to harness them for the benefit of ourselves and others are worth understanding by children and adults alike. Maybe the schools are the place to teach emotional intelligence if children aren't getting it at home. Maybe this will help break the cycle of emotional immaturity and emotional abuse. But I'm a bit concerned when the government gets involved in the moral development of our children. In addition, child and educational psychology have produced a lot of ineffective (even harmful?) programs and approaches to children's development and education over the last fifty years.

Fifteen years have transpired since this book was written. I wonder what brain research has discovered or confirmed pertaining to emotional intelligence. I also wonder how many emotional intelligence programs have been used in schools and how those children fare ten or more years later. I believe there's something to the concept of emotional intelligence, I'm just not convinced that it deserves equal footing with mental intelligence.(less)

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Oct 05, 2011

Katja rated it

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This book has produced such conflicting feelings in me that I am torn as to what to write here. On the one hand, the majority of the book is well-written, intelligent and compelling. The points made in this book are simple yet profound, and I have to agree that the importance of social and emotional skills can’t be understated. At one point I swear the book actually read my mind as I was reading it. On some level I think Daniel Goleman and I think in much the same way, and even though the book i...moreThis book has produced such conflicting feelings in me that I am torn as to what to write here. On the one hand, the majority of the book is well-written, intelligent and compelling. The points made in this book are simple yet profound, and I have to agree that the importance of social and emotional skills can’t be understated. At one point I swear the book actually read my mind as I was reading it. On some level I think Daniel Goleman and I think in much the same way, and even though the book is 15 years old now, on the whole it is as applicable as it ever was. *disclaimer – angry rant coming up* On the other hand, it testifies to the importance of emotional intelligence, because if I had any less, this book would be lying in pieces in my backyard. One problem is that he quite often makes the correlation = causation fallacy when citing research, which drives me bonkers. Secondly – and this is what really disgusted me - at several points throughout the book, he does one of the WORST possible things a writer can do – he catastrophises. He shamelessly talks about the degradation of society, the decrease in moral fibre, and equates rising divorce rates with lower prospects for good relationships (I absolutely cannot stand the “divorce = unhappiness, marriage = happiness” argument – are you serious Daniel Goleman?? Have we not progressed at all since the 19th century?). He cites a study that found children in their teenage years are more moody, secretive and irritable than when they were children – and uses that to support an argument that people are getting unhappier across the lifespan (really?! because that sounds like ADOLESCENCE to me). What makes the doomsday predictions particularly embarrassing is the statistics he cites regarding rising violence and cocaine use, stating expert predictions that violent crime among the young would increase drastically in the years to come. Too bad for Goleman that this “crime boom” widely predicted in the 90s actually never happened, and that the cocaine bubble burst that decade – resulting in the rates of both violent crime and cocaine use in the US decreasing drastically. The simple fact is that if Daniel Goleman hadn’t been so set on his overblown doomsday scenarios, his book would have been so much better – more measured, more reasonable, and much less likely to make me throw up all over it. Truthfully, he didn’t need all the catastrophising about the crumbling fibre of society to make a point for the importance of emotional intelligence – the rest of his book does that on its own. So all I can say is: on the whole it’s a great book, which could have been much better without the over-exaggerated scare tactics - much of which have since turned out to be false (which must be embarrassing for you, Daniel Goleman, but you deserved it resorting to arguments like that). I know that most of this review is an angry rant, but I've still given it four stars because I chose to be reasonable and not let those things be deal-breakers. I really did enjoy the vast majority of this book. Really.(less)

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Jun 13, 2011

Manugw rated it

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A BREAKTHROUGH

Amazing book, this is one of a kind reading that changed the way I think about myself and others.

The author bases his findings on a long time research and studies, and concludes that the emotional intelligence of an individual counts more to be successful in life than his intellectual coefficient and then proceeds to develop this idea in a very convincing way chapter after chapter showing diverse examples associated to the successful behavior of people of diffe...more

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Aug 09, 2010

Alan rated it

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I wrote on the inside cover: Very interesting although long and repetitive. There needs to be more talk of what we can do. I subsequently went on to write an article about the book: which turned out to be the most visited article I have ever written:

- Emotional Intelligence. An introduction. What exactly is emotional intelligence? And can it be taught and if so where?
http://www.connected.org/learn/emotion.h...

And then I wrote a number of articles inspired by the boo...more

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Jul 04, 2010

Lars Guthrie rated it

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After several years of looking at this seminal work on my to-read list, I am happy to have finally read it. It should be on the to-read list of educators and parents.

To learn and to grow, children first need to be ready to learn and to grow. However, how and what we need to learn today can differ significantly from the requirements of our ancestors. Evolution equipped us with an early warning system, the limbic system of our brains and its marvelous filter, the amygdala.
...more

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Aug 17, 2009

Leslie rated it

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This is an interesting book about social skills--reading other peoples' emotions, recognizing your own, interpreting them correctly, and using that information to form an appropriate response. This response is to be assertive, to achieve socially condoned goals, and to represent the real desired response. It gives a lot of interesting background on how these things impact all our daily lives--from professional relationships to personal ones. It analyzes marriage arguments and schoolyard fight...more

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Jan 03, 2012

Jerry rated it

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Shelves: science, business

The author makes an excellent case for the importance of emotional intelligence.
Moments of impassioned action, emotional outbursts, occur because of a direct path from the senses to the amygdala, which serves as an alarm signal for trouble. It triggers fight or flight responses.
Eye and ear to thalamus then across single synapse to amygdala and a separate, longer signal path from the thalamus to neocortex for reasoning. Thus the emotional response can highjack the brain before t...more

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Sep 28, 2010

Cheryl in CC NV rated it

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Pretty good. A little incomplete, because so much research has been done since, but more careful, plausible, and ultimately 'right' than the other related books I've been reading recently. I particularly appreciate the many times he says "probably" and "might" and "often" - even the subtitle has the word "can" in it. And not an arrogant, self-centered "we" in the book - yay!

Btw, it's not a self-help book. And it's dense only if you...more

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May 27, 2011

Thien Doan rated it

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This book is awesome! In my background knowledge I know a little of psychology like pretty much rarely. I don't know the facts and such. When I read this book I gotten sucked into this book. It answers many questions that I do wonder a lot. "Emotional Intelligence: abilities such as being able to motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustrations; to control impulse and delay gratification; to regulate" and so on and on. He define the statement real clearly and want to say that e...more

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Dec 22, 2010

thebutterflycastle rated it

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Recommended to thebutterflycastle by: this is a suggested read at P&G where I work plus a couple frien

Before reading this book, I always considered my emotions such a nuisance. After reading this book, I have a renewed appreciation for the value of emotions and how without them pure logic would result in lack of good judgement. To be honest, I have spent the majority of my existence isolating where my varied ever-changing emotions are coming from, trying to get to the root cause of why they are so intense and what is making them so, in an effort to control them.. another reason why I consider ...more

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Aug 18, 2011

Tokreads rated it

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Shelves: tok-cafe

Bersi B:
I found Emotional Intelligence to be both insightful and fun to read! The language was frank, easy to read and the content was not that hard to digest. I had heard most of the ideas that the book presented before reading it, but never heard the ideas articulated in the same 'scientific' manner in which it was in the novel. Emotional Intelligence, to my understanding before I read the book was something that was used to show that IQ's weren't a good indicator of intelligence, and t...more

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Tokreads sarrah

When I first bought this book a couple of weeks ago, my first impression was that the entire book would trash the idea of IQ in order ...moresarrah

When I first bought this book a couple of weeks ago, my first impression was that the entire book would trash the idea of IQ in order to promote emotional intelligence. I was right, to some extent, although it was only briefly defended that way. I agree with laila and sia that the book was to some extent a self-help book, but not the cheesy and strictly instructive kind. Daniel Goleman highlighted the importance of emotional intelligence throughout the entire book in a very informative way. He did make the content he wrote easier to comprehend because he took time to define scientific neurological terms concerning the parts of the brain that pertained to emotion. That aspect of his writing has to be admired, as well as the fact that he was able to illustrate his insights into emotional importance through various short stories from a variety of perspectives (children, adults, teenagers, old people, etc.). Daniel Goleman made it a point to emphasize the fact that emotion most often overcomes reason and rational thinking. He was able to later further inform readers of how this can be controlled, and this was apparent within most of the chapters. I am amazed at how well and educated Goleman is on emotions in general. This book, for me, was one of the most exiting books I have ever read because, knowing that Goleman was able to pinpoint all of the emotions that I have ever felt and never been able to describe and all the situations in which I would most often find myself incapable of control over my emotions (or so I thought). Golemean was able to really assess each emotion in every possible situation. He didn’t neglect to relate each emotion with various types of common real life situations, which would normally go unnoticed. I also agree that the subheadings and titles aided in my understanding of the Book, because it was a lot easier to organize the large amount of information had obtained from reading it. I am particularly fond of the fact that Goleman does stress the fact that change is possible, and that emotions and various parts of the brain can be controlled and “tamed”, and I find that an admirable aspect.(less)
Aug 17, 2011 12:39am

Tokreads When I read the title of this book by Daniel Goleman I was intrigued to read more. In my mind I always thought that there was something more to life t...moreWhen I read the title of this book by Daniel Goleman I was intrigued to read more. In my mind I always thought that there was something more to life than just IQ. IQ is seen as a major factor of a person’s intelligence, however “Emotional Intelligence” explains that there is much more to a person’s intelligence than we are aware of. Everyone’s mind frame varies, and this book talks about alternative factors that impact our level of intelligence. The lessons and information learnt in school are not the only form of education, and not the only factor that stimulates your brain. Goleman explains that emotional intelligence consists of a various range of abilities, which is due to our emotional brain. This includes abilities such as empathy, self-control, self-awareness, and emotional control and awareness. In the past and even currently people judge other peoples future by how ‘smart’ they are in school. However being smart in school and doing well in your school subjects can have no relation to how you will do in the future. Naturally it factors in, however there is more to the human brain than is explored in school. Emotional awareness or emotional intelligence is a great factor in people’s success, and from a young age this can be seen and even provoked. Goleman’s ideas are somewhat scientific, and all the information given related to the brain and its stimulations is accurate. In this work the reader can relate to many things written in the book, and it gives helpful tips for parents to nurture their child in the best way possible. Goleman provides insightful information relating to emotions, and explains how emotions can stimulate the body into action, into no action, or even into over reaction which he calls ‘emotional hijacking.’ Reading this we can all relate to times where we have been motivated, inspired and driven to achieve goals, and when we are confident with our emotions we are successful. When we are emotionally distracted, we tend to slow down and not be fully alert, which tends to lead to what we don’t want. And sometimes our emotions take over control, such as when we are infuriated over something, our body or mouth tends to act by itself and we realize later, that we shouldn’t have done or said what we did. Goleman continues further to provide other interesting information that is true to everyone’s lives and everyday actions. The research done by Goleman is extensive in regards to the brain linked to psychology with the main subject of emotions. The role of emotions in our lives is unbelievably important, and Goleman stresses on this subject, informing us how to manage our lives successfully. Goleman teaches how to motivate yourself and face your anger, regulate your mood and ignore distress when it is unimportant, essentially teaching how to live your life the way you want to if you control your mind. The human mind is truly extraordinary, and in this book that fact is made clear. The book at times seems to go on and on about a particular subject, however it could be seen as Goleman’s aim of being extensive. Reading another one of his books would be worthwhile.
Giri Bhardwaj(less)
Aug 17, 2011 08:59am

Feb 13, 2010

Grace rated it

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Shelves: non-fiction, psychology, read-in-2010, science-brain

Daniel Goleman's breakthrough book, "Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More than IQ," revolutionized conventional thinking about intelligence. Up until the mid 1990's, standard IQ tests were thought to be the end all and be all of intelligence measurement. However, these tests do not take into account other types of intelligences that play a vital role in a person's success in life.

Emotional intelligence is the collective term for all aspects of recognizing emotion...moreDaniel Goleman's breakthrough book, "Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More than IQ," revolutionized conventional thinking about intelligence. Up until the mid 1990's, standard IQ tests were thought to be the end all and be all of intelligence measurement. However, these tests do not take into account other types of intelligences that play a vital role in a person's success in life.

Emotional intelligence is the collective term for all aspects of recognizing emotions in yourself and others and applying what you know about these emotions to every day situations. The author introduces the reader to these aspects of emotional intelligence, how they work, what happens when emotional intelligence is lacking, and shows ways it can be learned later on in life. This five part book is the perfect introduction to the study of emotional intelligence. The only downside to reading this book in 2010 is that it is missing 15 years of research and innovation that have occurred since the book went to print. When Goleman published this book, Prozac was the drug of choice for depression. Who even hears about Prozac any more?

This book is full of easy to understand examples cited from dozens of experiments conducted across the United States and around the world. These examples help the reader understand the author's message and give the reader real life examples that he or she can relate to. If you read this book and could not identify with one example or think of someone who fit an example, then you could probably benefit from a course in emotional intelligence or you and everyone you know is emotionally literate, but something tells me it is probably the former than the latter.

I got a lot out of Goleman's book and I definitely plan on checking out other books by him about emotional intelligence (including books about emotional intelligence in the work place) and social intelligence. Unfortunately, the only downside about reading this book is that most of the people I know have not read it. It would be so much easier to see the benefits of learning and practicing emotional intelligence if everyone was doing it too. Instead we must lead by example!
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Dec 27, 2011

Jim Razinha rated it

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This book was recommended reading for a 2012 management program for which I was selected. I admit up front that I typically would not read it, but I thought I'd give it a shot and tried to keep an open mind. If "tried" foreshadows my conclusions...well, I tried.

Three quarters bio-anatomy (quite a number of surveys/studies cited, "suggesting" correlation), one sixth bold statements and conclusions from those surveys, leaving one twelfth that might have value in the w...moreThis book was recommended reading for a 2012 management program for which I was selected. I admit up front that I typically would not read it, but I thought I'd give it a shot and tried to keep an open mind. If "tried" foreshadows my conclusions...well, I tried.

Three quarters bio-anatomy (quite a number of surveys/studies cited, "suggesting" correlation), one sixth bold statements and conclusions from those surveys, leaving one twelfth that might have value in the workplace. That is, after all, the reason the subject was recommended. Actually, one twelfth is a bit generous (being 25 pages.) I flagged less than 20 to pull tidbits from. Opinion, yes, but this is my "review", thus my opinion counts.

I read this so that I might add to my leadership toolbox. Instead, I came away with a lesser impression of Goleman's position: "See? Biology supports this. I'm right, even if I can't make my case very convincing to people who don't think like me." Not to say that someone more emotionally attuned wouldn't buy into the entire theory, but I had too hard a time shaking off the questions I couldn't quite form in my head as I read the book. I felt there were too many forced conclusions. I don't fault Goleman for corralling the research supporting his model, but I wonder if he could look at the data and come up with something else, or if his bias drove him to seek out the studies that seemed to support his conclusions.

In short, the book did little to explain to me the subtitle "Why it can matter more than IQ" in - and I'll take the blame for this - terms I could accept, and worse, did a poor sell of the cover (10th anniversary edition) superlative "The groundbreaking book that redefined what it means to be smart."

Why is the business world so susceptible to faddish theories? Demings's Total Quality Managment...Six Sigma...life coaching...emotional intelligence. In a oddly serendipitous infrequent check on my LinkedIn page as I read this book, I noticed someone suggested as someone I might know was a "Certified Emotional Intelligence Consultant." Apparently, I am way behind the curve on this one. And like most things ignored, now that I am aware of emotional intelligence (EQ), I'm sure I'll see more of it.

Too little of the book was spent on anything practical and too much seemed to be spent on justifying the conclusions. Part Men Are From Mars..., part take-your-pick of self-help tracts, part disconnected psycho-studies, it seemed to me that Goleman could see only his conclusion from any scenario presented. "The single most important element in group intelligence, it turns out, is not the average IQ in the academic sense, but rather in terms of emotional intelligence." The "single most"? "it turns out"? Very definite, yet not very rigorous, nor conclusive. But while I admit not having the skills/background to point out where Goleman may be wrong, his absolute pronouncements registered discordant with me. How can you state so conclusively that what separates achieves is not their IQ (which Goleman rightly pegs as a measure of potential academic success, not as being "intelligent") but their EQ? Reaching.

"There is an old-fashioned word for the body of skills that emotional intelligence represents: character."

"old-fashioned"? Not in my book. If "character" fits, why invent a new term?

Lumping together common sense concepts such as cooperation and workplace harmony and rebranding them as "emotional intelligence" is brilliant. And a tad saccharine. Disclosing my aversion to diet sweeteners, you can see my reaction to this book. But I can appreciate those who can sell this serpentine lubricant - until the next fad. (less)

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