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Summary: Life changing perspective
Review: This is one of the best books ever written because it truly makes the case for the value of emotional intelligence. We have all met people who have high IQ's but are not in control of their emotions and sabotage their lives. I bought this book after reading the reviews and it is worth every cent. I also bought Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self based on the same reviews and agree that Optimal Thinking provides the actual "How" to master disturbing feelings, achieve emotional mastery and get our most important needs met. Emotional Intelligence deserves 5 stars for providing the "Why" and Optimal Thinking deserves 5 stars for providing the "How."
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Summary: The readers opinion...
Review: This book is great. I think it will end up being a classic. Why? Because, as you can see from the extreme ratings, you either love it or hate it. This has been the case for so many classics through the years. Hill, Carnegie, and many others inspired the love/hate opinions of millions of readers throughout the last century, and Goleman appears to have struck the same cord. Regarding the content of the book, I have actually lived and experienced through my own battle with emotions, and I agree with the author, as living proof that EI has been more important than my IQ. I was never truly able, until recently anyway, to deal with my gift of intelligence. I failed at relationships, career, music, etc. I even got into childish arguments about books and the value to society. Why? Because I did not have a grasp on my emotions. I thought that because I was considered extremely intelligent that I should be able to control something that was fact, but just emotions generated on false references.
I am not my feelings or emotions. I am only one who experiences and releases these feelings and emotions. I wonder if the reviewer, who points us to a web site that is locked in a one-sided opinion of this author, has emotional intelligence or are they just using the forum to dictate their way of thinking? To each his own. Life and let live. If I am not allowed to my own free opinion than why should I be open to what is published at this web site? I rate this book a 5, because I enjoyed it and learned something. I also rate it a 5 because I disagree with the people who rated it only 1 star. Ok, so I too am an emotional adolesent. Enjoy the book!
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Summary: What is your Emotional IQ?
Review: Daniel Goleman makes an air-tight case as to why Emotional Intelligence is more a determiner of success than I.Q. His comments on page 80 perfectly encapsulates why this book should be required reading; "To the degree that our emotions get in teh way of or enchance our ability to think and plan, to pursue training for a distant goal, to solveproblems and the like, they define the limits of our capacity to use our innate mental abilities, and so determine how we do in life. And to the degree to which we are motivated by feelings of enthusiasm and pleasure in what we do- or even by an optimal degree of anxiety-they propel us to accomplishment. It is in this sense that emotional intelligence is a master aptitude, a capacity that profoundly affects all other abilities, either facilitating or interfering with them." Emotional Intelligence, or the lack thereof, is why we see so much violence in our society; road-rage, bullies in schools, broken marriages, spousal and child abuse...the list goes on. We, as humans, have no earthly idea how powerful our emotions are- how easily and powerfully they overwhelm our resoning capacities, and "common-sense," to our detriment, and to the detriment of those around us and the society at-large. Who needs to read this book? Parents, spouses, (practice the principles of EI in your homes and watch the transformation) educators, counselors (teach EI principles to students and clients). After reading this book, you will never be able to look at the world in the same way, nor will you act toward others in the same way. A truly life-changing book.
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Summary: Excellent... and so is the irony about emotional IQ
Review: Goleman has done well at popularizing the concept of Emotional Intelligence, and he's right that it's essential for successful social functioning. From my perspective, however, the book is mostly worth reading (or re-reading) because of irony. I work with empaths, people who directly experience what it is like to be other people. About 1 in 20 folks has a signficant, trainable gift. And, as described in "Empowered by Empathy," some empaths have emotional gifts, either personally feeling emotions that belong to other people and not recognizing the source (until becoming skilled as an empath) or being able to objectively identify another person's constellations of emotions--doing so with accuracy, rather than projection. Here's where the irony comes in. Emotional Intelligence has zero relationship to being an empath. Unskilled empaths pick up pain like crazy until they become skilled, and a high emotional IQ won't help. What does make a night-and-day difference is becoming skilled as an empath. Irony is compounded by the fact that some of the savviest identifiers of human emotion have no talent at all empathically. In fact, I suspect this is true of Goleman, having not only read this book of his but also having read his aura from his photograph. Goleman wisely promotes the value of Emotional Intelligence. But don't stop at raising your emotional IQ. If you've seen results from the consciousness raising in this book, wait until you discover the difference it makes becoming skilled, if you're a natural empath.
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Summary: Emotional Review
Review: My therapist read excerpts of this book to me in therapy to encourage reading it on my own. If you have emotions (and you do) this book is very valuable. I find it fascinating that the only highly critical review I've read here was from someone who purports to be in the psychological sciences, and wrote a very EMOTIONAL review. Just something to ponder.
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Summary: LOVED IT!
Review: I loved the way the author defined emotional intelligence. In terms of self-awareness the author made me think and research other good books. I first look into FEALESS but it made me FEARFULL. I recently discover a new author named Tom Patire who wrote Tom Patire's Personal Protection Handbook. This book combined with Emotional Intelligence was the 1-2 punch that I was looking for. Both authors have great styles and great information. So when addressing things involved with emotions, self preservation and the love of life read both these books. Debbie
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Summary: A mockery of science
Review: Goleman's book makes a mockery of science. He is a disgrace to the profession of psychology. I am a researcher who studies emotional intelligence. While it does have some merit, scientific research has demonstrated that EQ is not all that Goleman purports it is. Of course, IQ isn't everything - we have known that for a long time. We don't need a catchy new concept to tell us that IQ isn't everything - other constructs, such as personality (remember that??), have been telling us that for a long time! EQ is simply a new name for an old concept, designed to make money! Anyway, I digress...back to the book. There are numerous grounds upon which this book can be criticized. Most importantly, Goleman misinterprets the research he cites in this book, reports findings incorrectly, and misleads readers with his ridiculous claims. He is not taken seriously by anyone who values science and research, and has been publicly reprimanded by some of the original scientists whose findings he has misrepresented. Please do not buy into this hype - even if Oprah tells you to! Here's the bottom line: Emotional intelligence (a) is not a new concept - it is an old idea with a catchy new name, (b) is not the solution to all the world's problems, or yours, for that matter (c) is not best understood by reading Goleman's pop psychology garbage, (d) has not been shown to live up to most of Goleman's claims in scientific studies, (e) does not even have a single agreed-upon definition in the scientific literature, and (f) is a money-making scheme! Again, the idea of emotional intelligence does have some merit (i.e., it has been shown to correlate with some important outcomes), but it is not everything (or even close) Goleman claims it is. Please, do yourself a favour: If you want to learn about emotional intelligence, don't use this book as a source. Look for a more scientific source, written by an author that doesn't distort research evidence to make his case. If you're not into reading scientific journals, check out the website www.eqi.org for a summary of the scientific literature on EI and on Goleman's misleading writing in this book.
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Summary: Already a Historical book!
Review: This book was only written a few years ago but it is already a classic! It opened the eyes of our culture to another side of human consciousness anf functioning. Although we still have a long way to go in developing a full understanding of the emotional aspects of ourselves, this book provided us an wonderful opportunity to move in that direction. The book that has taken us one more step in that direction is "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato. Though Goleman's book helped me become more aware of this aspect of myself, reading Sato's book has increased my emotional intelligence level immensely! Both books are essential readings for the evolution of our consciousness.
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Summary: Goleman makes a lot of sense!
Review: I gained a lot of insight from this well researched book. How we feel effects the way we behave, and Daniel Goleman skillfully explains the neurological basis of emotional intelligence. If you want to understand each emotion, the cause, lessons it has for you and how to best deal with it, read Optimal Thinking--How To Be Your Best Self. I think these books should sit side by side on everyone's bookshelf.
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Summary: Intelligence Comes in Different Forms, not just IQ
Review: Daniel Goleman refers to "a growing body of evidence showing that success in school depends to a surprising extent on emotional characteristics formed in the years BEFORE a child enters school." Having been a preschool teacher for many years, I must agree. So much of what determines how a child is going to fit into the world depends on his strengths (not weaknesses) along with his degree of self-esteem (not necessarily his IQ or SAT scores). This book is a must for all parents, especially those who feel their child simply does not compare to the "kid next door"...you know, the one who seems to be good at everything. Although that may be true, Goleman says that by nuturing and teaching to the Emotional Intelligence and strengths of your child, the chance of success in future years will be increased. ALL children have the ability to accomplish goals. Maybe your child is extremely good in his interpersonal skills--well-liked by his peers and blessed with the gift of gab and a great sense of humor. These are perfect qualities for a successful salesman. The fact that a child does not test well in math or written English skills and has a very average IQ is not directly significant in how successful he will become as a salesman. Those kids that excel in the arts may enjoy huge success in a career as an actor, artist, film producer, or photographer, especially if his Emotional Intelligence is high. In addition to giving a child unconditional love, I feel it is our job as good parents to identify our children's strengths in the early years and give them plenty of chances to experience challenges, accomplishment, and joy in those areas. Along with this excellent theoretical book, I highly recommend for those of you who have young children, another very practical book called "The Pocket Parent." This quick-read A-Z guide will give you many specific strategies for increasing the "emotional intelligence" of your 2- to 5-year-old through better daily communication and positive discipline. By following the advice of these two books, you will help your child learn how to better interact with others, solve problems, and develop empathy, while maintaining a good sense of self-worth just the way s/he is.
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