Working with Emotional Intelligence
By JDaniel Goleman
Reviewed By Janelle Woodruff
(ISBN–13: 978–0553378580)
What is emotional intelligence andwhy should it matter anyway?Whether or not you know what emotionalintelligence is, each one of us has it, just aswe have IQ. Much like IQ, emotional intelligenceis measurable. Whether yours is highor low, it shows up daily in all your interactionsand choices. If your emotional intelligenceis hanging out for all to see, don’t youthink you should know what it is and makesure it is benefiting you and others?
In his bestselling book, Working withEmotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman proposes that emotional intelligenceis more than “merely being nice.” He says, “At strategic momentsit may demand not ‘being nice,’ but rather, for example, bluntlyconfronting someone with an uncomfortable but consequential truththey’ve been avoiding. It means managing feelings so that they are expressedappropriately and effectively, enabling people to work togethersmoothly toward common goals.”
Does emotional intelligence matter on the job? Goleman writes,“The rules for work are changing. We’re being judged by a new yardstick,not just by how smart we are, or by our training and expertise,but also by how well we handle ourselves and each other.” By the measuresof the new yardstick, academic abilities are irrelevant. Instead,the personal qualities are most important. What matters are traitssuch as initiative, empathy, adaptability and persuasiveness.
When it comes to climbing the corporate ladder, Goleman says, “Forsuccess at the highest levels in leadership positions, emotional competenceaccounts for virtually the entire advantage. For star performancein all jobs in every field, emotional competence is twice as importantas purely cognitive abilities.” For corporations, he notes, “Emotionalintelligence can be an inoculation that preserves health and encouragesgrowth. If a company has the competencies that flow from self–awareness, self–regulation, motivation and empathy, leadership skillsand open communication, it should prove to be more resilient nomatter what the future brings. And that in turn places a premium onpeople who themselves are emotionally intelligent.”
It is clear from this book that that there is much more to successthan having a high IQ and a university degree. The great news is thatemotional intelligence can be learned and emotional competenciescan be assessed and improved upon.
A pioneer in the field of emotional intelligence, Goleman takes whatcould be a complicated concept and makes it completely tangible, easyto comprehend through pages of fascinating true life examples. As youget to the end, you may find yourself evaluating your own level of emotionalintelligence and noticing that of others around you.
