Rating: Summary: 'Life and Death on the Internet' and this book are Must-Read Review: Once in a great while a truely unique book comes along that expands the mind. Fortunately , I have been lucky twice in the last year. I have had the great fortune to be exposed to two super books, this one and 'Life and Death on the Internet' by Keith A Schroeder. Both books belong in your library. Both open your mind. The true ability of Emotional Intelligence is to know when to do something right. Like buy these two books, read them, and put them to good use.
Rating: Summary: Managers will enjoy it Review: The book will aid with the trend of creating a ideology to support the idea that individuals with little ability outside of 'management' (IQ or technical skills) should be leading. Conformity is being declared a new form of 'intelligence'. Maybe it is, depending on one's goals. Unfortunetly, for the rest of us who may simply want to have a job and be left alone, it will help to justify both personality testing and discrimination based on unpopularity. Corporate America has been going this way for decades and now is trying to throw the authority of social science behind it's goals... I'd recommend a re-reading of The Organization Man.
Rating: Summary: Interesting - Thought provoking Review: Being a student of author Dr. Jeff McNair works, this ranks right up with his writings. Daniel captures articulately the essence of emotional intelligence in a workable fashion. I would say it is a must read for anyone who is in business of human resourses.Very well done
Rating: Summary: more pablum for workplace freeloaders and diversity trainers Review: Long live mindless, emotional, public and private bureaucracy!!!More biased, feel-good anti-individual propaganda. Exemplifying one of the many prevalent though intrinsically worthless concepts in the politically correct government mandated and controlled, redistributionist, collectivist workplace and economy of today. Remember "quality circles?"
Rating: Summary: This is a must read book for all leaders and managers. Review: The study of emotional intelligence in relationship to fire and emergency services is going to be historic. Having high emotional intelligence for our emergecny response personnel is far more important to our professions than just a high IQ. After having spent thirty-two years in the fire service with eleven different organizations, five times as a fire chief, I have found an individual with high emotional intelligence is more important to quality customer service. This book reflects what emergency service professionals have known for some time now. This book now makes it more acceptable to have emotional intelligence testing performed during pre-employment testing and promotional evaluations for law enforcement, fire, EMS, correctional and managers. More video testing programs are needed to help managers, supervisors and leaders to accurately measure emotional intelligence. At last, we now have a book that validates what we have long known but have been unable to prove.
Rating: Summary: I read both and picked the Quickbook Review: This book was recommended to me as a resource for emotional intelligence in the workplace. I was looking for something to give to managers here at my company and I also puchased the recommended title on this page, The Emotional Intelligence Quickbook. Working is alright and I can see how it was a good resource when it came out in 1998, but The Emotional Intelligence Quickbook is more up to date and far more practical. It also worked well for us because it comes with a free emotional intelligence test online.
Rating: Summary: Looooooooong and repetitious Review: I read and read and read and read and, well you got the point. I think is too much of the same. It is very strong the first half, but the other half took discipline to finish.
Rating: Summary: Could have been better Review: This book is rather long and boring. It presents much of the same information found in "Emotional Intelligence", and fills much of the rest of the space with vague generalization and even some indefensible platitudes like "the bigger the group, the higher the group IQ". However, despite the annoying tendency to run-on and assert vague and pleasant-sounding but questionable filler, the book contained enough "aha!" paragraphs to be a worthwhile read. There are some gems in this one, as long as you don't mind sifting through the sand.
Rating: Summary: Success is based on how you apply emotional intelligence Review: This is a wonderful book, and is truly an insightful look at what helps us to be successful in leadership positions in the workplace. The old model of senior management was based on owning all the information and knowledge and being able to understand what everyone does in fine detail, and was often the "promoted-up-through-the-ranks" type of leader. But with modern business involving so much change, and constantly shifting market demands and organizational structures, what worked well yesterday will not move the organization or your career ahead tomorrow. The author uses as a platform the work on Emotional Intelligence, which unlike typically defined intelligence, focuses on the ability to apply emotional and inspirational information in a variety of social settings and through a vast array of relationships. It is this ability he concludes that predicts success in today's workplace. Among the areas of discussion are five competencies in which our ability is revealed. The first is "Self Awareness" which includes emotional awareness, self-assessment, and self-confidence. How many times have we worked for or with someone who could not control their emotions and lacked the self awareness to understand how their actions impacted those around them? The importance of balancing performance while exhibiting the values of the organization through a positive culture has never been more in need. Many who have the intelligence to do the work, lack the emotional intelligence to build the relationships and culture needed to get the work done through others. The book explores these pitfalls and discusses suggestions for change. The other areas are similar: "Self Regulation" (self-control, trustworthiness, adaptability, innovation), "Motivation" (achievement driven, commitment, initiative, and optimism), "Empathy" (understanding others, developing others, service oriented, politically aware), and "Social Skills" (influence, conflict management, leadership, catalyst, building bonds, collaboration and cooperation, and teamwork). All of the five competencies are presented well, with examples and suggestions for improvement. Some reviewers have noted the lack of "scientific" type of analysis, but I feel that misses the point. The first hurdle to overcome if one wants to be as successful as possible is a basic awareness of the importance of interpersonal skills, and building strong working relationships with others. The opportunity for a purely autocratic style to operate in today's business is rare and therefore the majority of those leading businesses will need to focus on how they apply their EQ, not just their IQ. This book does an excellent job at presenting what EQ success looks like and why it is important. It is not a step by step manual for improving one's business success, as that would ironically be an IQ approach. The book instead is a great eye-opener of the importance of emotions, and how we read others and interact with them. Highly recommended, and a great starting point for improving your ability to lead others in today's business environment.
Rating: Summary: A Good Book For Academics Review: While I found this a helpful and inspiring book, the academic and statistician in me found parts of it hard to take. In a popular book like this there is usually little detail about studies and methodology. But if there had been, it would have been a much more painful read and I would be complaining about that instead. Studies or not, though, much of it is just good common sense and rings true with my own experience of myself, other people, and the workplace. It is a well-written reminder of the qualities that distinguish people who are merely intelligent from those who are both influential and intelligent. It seems to me that the concept of "Emotional Intelligence" might be better called "Emotional Competence," another term Goleman uses often and one that better distinguishes the qualities he is discussing from what we usually talk about as "intelligence" or "intellect." For an older take on some of those qualities, readers might check out Aristotle's discussion of "magnanimity" in the Nichomachean Ethics. Emotionally competent people will be self-aware, self-controlled and self-confident to the extent justified; they will be highly ethical, trustworthy, and honest; they will be motivated; and they will be empathic and take genuine interest in the needs of others. (Aristotle might have some reservations about that last, and add that you need to walk slowly and speak with a deep voice.) Goleman does not deny the importance of conventional intellectual or conceptual skills, but points out, as most of us have seen in our workplaces (and homes) that the ability to understand or come up with an idea is not always accompanied with the motivation and self-discipline to translate an idea into effective action, or to inspire or persuade others to help make that happen. Academics in particular might benefit from this book--if they can willingly suspend disbelief--as a resource to improve teaching and advising and to work more effectively on research teams. The structure of college and university environments sometimes allows the emotionally incompetent more success than they deserve, but would probably also benefit more than other workplaces from faculty and administrators who can master the lessons of this book.
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