Every week H&F reads one business book and selects interesting passages from it. This time we read a book by American psychologist Daniel Goleman, dedicated to the problem of using emotional intelligence in business. In a 500-page work, Goleman proves that high intelligence and professional skills are not enough to be truly good leader. This also requires emotional intelligence, which helps you listen to your inner voice. We have selected several useful tips about how to develop it.
Emotional intelligence determines how much we are able to master practical skills, which are based on five components: self-awareness, motivation, self-regulation, empathy And the art of maintaining relationships. Our emotional competence shows how fully we have converted this potential into abilities needed at work. For example, the ability to provide good customer service is an emotional competence based on empathy. Similarly, trustworthiness is a competency that relies on self-regulation, or the ability to fully manage one's impulses and emotions.
Emotional competence plays a particularly important role in leadership, a quality whose essence lies in the ability to get other people to do their jobs more effectively. Failure of leaders to maintain interpersonal relationships reduces the productivity of all group members. It wastes time, creates a conflictual atmosphere, undermines motivation and commitment to work, and provokes hostility and indifference.
A measure of the strength or weakness of a leader's emotional competence is the degree of his ability to maximize the talents of the people he leads. Mastery of a situation involving the manifestation of emotions requires the ability to resolve conflicts: the ability to quickly inspire confidence, achieve mutual understanding, listen carefully, convincingly persuade and persuade the interlocutor to accept advice. You need abilities such as self-awareness, understanding other people's points of view, and a sense of presence. And then at the negotiating table you will be the person everyone is ready to trust.
There are clear differences between successful leaders and unsuccessful ones.
Self-control: Those who were unsuccessful dealt poorly with difficult situations, were easily susceptible to mood swings, and were prone to outbursts of anger. The lucky ones, on the contrary, had excellent self-control under any stress, remaining calm, self-confident and, moreover, reliable in the most critical moments.
Mandatory: The failed group reacted to criticism or failure by going on the defensive, starting to deny, get out of it, or blame others. Successful people took responsibility, admitted their own mistakes and failures, and took action to resolve the problems. They always moved forward without dwelling on their mistakes.
Reliability: Losers, as a rule, were overly ambitious and did not hesitate to get ahead at the expense of others. The successful ones were distinguished by exceptional honesty, showed vigilant concern for the needs of their subordinates and colleagues, and diligently took on the task at hand. Moreover, they gave clear preference to all this, instead of impressing their boss in any way.
Social skills: Losers lacked empathy and sensitivity, so they were more likely to be harsh or unceremonious, instilling fear in their subordinates. And although, if necessary, they knew how to win over their interlocutors, demonstrating concern for the affairs of others, it was obvious that charm for them was only a means of manipulating others. The lucky ones were not lacking in empathy and sensitivity, they showed tact and attention, immersing themselves in the affairs of other people, be they superiors or subordinates.
Making connections and using the differences of people as a means to an end: the insensitivity and manipulative behavior of a group of misfits resulted in an inability to create a reliable system of mutually beneficial cooperative relationships. Successful people, better understanding the value of difference, are able to get along with a wide variety of people.
Heads of lending departments should anticipate a possible deterioration in business, even if the numbers are still in order. Administrators must decide in advance whether a new product is worth the time and expense required to develop it.
Bosses need to be able to take a balanced approach to the question of which of the candidates for a specific position, based on their character, will best fit into the work group. These types of situations require the ability to incorporate intuitive feeling into the decision-making process in search of an answer to the question of what is right and what is wrong.
Successful leaders were honest and cared about the needs of their subordinates and colleagues.
Intuition and gut feeling indicate the ability to perceive signals emanating from the internal storehouse of emotional memory - a person’s own source of wisdom and prudence. This ability is the true essence of self-awareness. Emotional awareness begins with tuning into the flow of feelings that is constantly present in each of us. From this point on, we recognize the power of such emotions to shape what we perceive, what we think, and what we do.
This awareness helps us understand that our feelings have an impact on those with whom we deal. Financial advisors are realizing that their own emotions can rub off on them when interacting with clients, leading to better or worse outcomes.
Our feelings are always with us, but we hardly listen to them. Typically, we become aware of our emotions only when they escalate and finally get out of control. But if we are attentive, we will be able to sense them on subtler levels long before they manifest with such force.
Emotions have their own program and schedule. But in our hectic life there is no place for them, no airtime - and therefore they go underground. All this intense mental activity drowns out the quieter inner voice, which offers to be guided by the resources of inner confidence that can keep us afloat in the ocean of life.
But self-awareness can be cultivated. Edward McCracken, former CEO Silicon Graphics, said: “In our industry, it often happens that there is no time to think at all. You have to do all the preliminary work, and then you have to rely on intuition, without allowing your mind to interfere with this process.” How did McCracken learn to use his intuition? He thought about it every day for 10 years.
His approach can be called a time-honored way to hear your own inner voice - deeply hidden, subtle: take a break to “do nothing.” Useful “doing nothing” is not a banal opportunity to evade work. This is a valuable ability to stop killing time by wasting it, say, sitting in front of the TV or, even worse, doing something while the TV is on. You just need to put aside all other types for a while purposeful activities and do something that will open our consciousness to a deeper and calmer perception.
It is not easy for many managers to adapt to the new trend - the dispersion of responsibility and the decision-making process throughout the organization as a whole. So if there is one competency in demand these days, it is, of course, adaptability.
Champions in this field enjoy change and embrace innovation. They are receptive to new information and can discard old ideas, adapting in a similar way to how they act next. They get along quite well with the feeling of anxiety that is often caused by everything new or unknown, and are willing to take risks by switching to new methods of activity.
Adaptability requires flexibility to be able to take into account different perspectives on a given situation. And flexibility, in turn, is directly related to emotional strength, that is, the ability to feel comfortable in conditions of uncertainty and remain calm when faced with the unexpected. Another competency that underlies adaptability is self-confidence, and such confidence helps a person quickly recalibrate their responses, unconditionally throwing everything in situations when reality changes.
The innovator's emotional incentive to action lies in the desire to find pleasure in novelty. People with such professional dexterity are able to quickly identify key tasks and simplify problems that sometimes seem extremely complex. They are able to find original connections and patterns that others usually do not pay attention to.
Deficiencies in this competency may indicate more than a simple lack of imagination. People who are uncomfortable with risk turn into critics and deniers. Cautious and defensive, they may constantly ridicule or undermine progressive ideas.
in private enterprise, too much restraint predicts failure
The creative mind is by nature slightly undisciplined. There is a natural tension between organized self-control and the desire to innovate. Not really creative people did not control emotions at all... No, it would be more correct to say that they willingly succumb to a variety of impulses and perform more actions than natures less prone to adventurism. After all, this is what creates new opportunities. Self-control in the sense of following rules augurs outstanding results in large organizations, especially those that favor a bureaucratic approach to the proper performance of duties. But in private enterprise or in creative professions like advertising, too much restraint spells failure.
Being emotionally present at work, people are full of attention and completely absorbed in their work - and therefore work without sparing their strength. They fully realize their creative ideas, energy and intuitions for the common good. Those around them perceive them as people available for dialogue and passionate about their work.
The opposite position - psychological absence - is all too well known from the example of those people who carry out their routine work mechanically, with obvious boredom or in some way isolated. In a sense, it is quite possible that they have not found themselves in their profession.
Presence requires a person to "not be incapacitated by worry, to be open rather than closed to others," explained William Kahn, a psychologist at Boston University's Department of Management. Such a presence constitutes main attribute flow of inspiration: full attention or immersion in the task at hand.
On the contrary, the enemies of presence (and the flow of inspiration) are two of the same type of illness - apathy and anxiety. Being fully present in a given situation, we are more attuned to the people around us and to the demands of the moment, and therefore we easily adapt to these requirements, in other words, we get into the flow. We can be thoughtful, funny, or self-deprecating, free to use whatever ability or skill we need at the moment.
Daniel Goleman's name is usually associated with criticism of the traditional view of IQ (intelligence quotient). He synthesized research on how the brain works and used it to promote and popularize the concept of emotional intelligence (EI).
In Emotional Intelligence at Work (1998), Daniel Goleman defined emotional intelligence as the ability to understand one's own and others' feelings, motivate oneself, and manage emotions in one's relationships with oneself and others.
Daniel Goleman was born in 1946. He graduated from Harvard and received a doctorate in psychology there. His bestselling book Emotional Intelligence (ACT, 2008) was published in 1995, followed by Emotional Intelligence at Work in 1998. Goleman was also a longtime psychology writer for the New York Times.
He is currently president of Emotional Intelligence Services in Sudbury, Massachusetts, which in alliance with the Hay Group offers courses in the development and assessment of emotional intelligence. Daniel Goleman is co-chair of the Society for Research on Emotional Intelligence at Rutgers University. Goleman's interest in EI stemmed from the understanding that a high IQ is not required condition success in life.
Daniel Goleman points out the relationship between business acumen and EI. In the second paper, he identified 25 EI competencies, or external behavior traits, and analyzed how EI influences success and failure.
Emotional intelligence and the brain. In Emotional Intelligence, Goleman talks about the implications of brain evolution for our feelings and behaviors. He describes how, over millions of years of evolution, human brain Three main zones developed.
In the course of evolution, emotions and thinking abilities - the two main functions of the brain responsible for behavior - ended up in different zones. In addition, the emotional centers receive information earlier than the thinking centers and will provoke a very quick and, in some situations, strong reaction. Then the results for a person can be catastrophic.
Until we are aware of the situation and do not control our feelings, we may allow inappropriate emotional reactions that block the consideration of other possibilities. But emotions also have their own “wisdom” that we must learn to use; This is especially true for intuition.
When people encounter stimuli that cause intense fear, anger, or despair, for example, the first impulse comes from the amygdala. Until the intellect is involved, the brain goes into survival mode, stimulating instinctive reactions that may turn out to be correct or completely wrong.
Today we have little need to fight for survival or avoid the dangers we faced primitive. But some instinctive reactions are useful in certain circumstances; Therefore, we must understand that the primitive reaction in emotional center precedes rational assessment and reaction. Emotional intelligence presupposes that we understand it and know how to use it, and also control our reactions.
Structure of EI. To describe the functioning of EI, the scientist proposed a system of five elements: introspection, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. Each of these elements has certain characteristics.
Daniel Goleman argues that people with these characteristics are more likely to succeed in leadership positions. As an example, he cites data from various sources that confirm that top managers with higher levels of EI perform better. And describes several funny situations that illustrate the manifestation of EI in the workplace.
Questionnaire on emotional competencies. Daniel Goleman believes that EI can be developed. To assess and develop it, in collaboration with the Hay Group, he developed a questionnaire on emotional competencies. It reduces the five original components of EI to four.
#1 Self-analysis:
#2 Self-control:
#3 Social competencies:
#4 Social Skills:
Leadership styles. Daniel Goleman also studied leadership styles with Hay/McBer. He presented the results of his research in 2000 in the Harvard Business Review. Based on responses from 3,781 executives, the scientist concluded that leaders receive best results using a combination of six management styles, each of which has character traits and addresses the various components of EI.
Researchers believe that the six leadership styles presented are good at different situations and directly affect the working atmosphere of the organization, which, in turn, determines its financial result.
The idea that success is largely dependent on communication skills is not new; Therefore, Daniel Goleman was often criticized for presenting well-known ideas with a new sauce. Goleman himself does not hide the origins of his ideas and admits them when he turns to the works of his colleagues. In 2001, Charles Woodruff analyzed Goleman's concept of EI and concluded:
Regardless of the validity of the criticism, Daniel Goleman has undoubtedly contributed significantly to management theory in the area of EI. He took some fairly complex ideas related to human behavior and biological evolution and translated them into a simpler and more understandable form.
As a result, many people have adopted it key principle: We can use intelligence to better manage our own emotions and apply emotional intuition. Agree, very useful theory for life and work.
Daniel Goleman is a famous psychologist, writer and journalist who introduced the concept of “emotional intelligence”, thanks to which he became famous. Who is he? What successes have you achieved in life? What are its main ideas? You will learn about this from this article, and you will also read about what books Daniel Goleman wrote that have gained popularity all over the world.
Daniel Goleman was born on March 7, 1946 in Stockton, California, United States of America. He first graduated from a local college and then received a PhD from the famous Harvard University. After this, Goleman underwent extensive training in India. When he returned to the United States, he began his work in the field of psychology, and for twenty years wrote articles for the famous New York Times, specializing in psychological topics, as well as on the science of the human brain. Over the course of his career, he has written more than twenty different books, some of which have become real bestsellers and are now leading textbooks in their fields. Studying in India left its mark on the professor’s activities - many of his ideas boil down to the need for meditation and paying attention to what is happening around. Goleman believes that a person's intelligence is limited by what he does not notice, and until he cannot notice this, he will not be able to become smarter. He wrote about this in many of his books, but the project “Emotional Intelligence” gained the greatest popularity.
The first book that gained great popularity, and the author of which was Daniel Goleman, was Focus. About attention, distraction and life success." In this book, the author proposes to concentrate on a resource that in most cases goes unnoticed and is lost. Everyone talks about time, abilities and other resources that are important for high productivity and great progress. But everyone forgets about attention, which is the real secret key to successful work and maximum self-realization. Goleman examines the phenomenon of attention from various angles, showing that people are wrong to focus on it, since it is very important aspect achieving success in any field. The main theme of the book is that attention in modern world is extremely necessary, since now there are more and more distractions that prevent people from achieving success, and only focusing on a specific goal can give the necessary result.
Well, it's time to talk about the most important book that brought the writer worldwide fame. It was he who introduced the very concept of EQ, that is, “emotional intelligence.” Daniel Goleman compares this indicator to IQ and believes that it is even more important than simple intelligence. Using numerous examples, Goleman showed that people with a high IQ are not always able to achieve success, while people with a low IQ often become successful businessmen. It's all about emotional intelligence - this parameter helps a person achieve success in modern society. What is the essence of this concept? This is exactly what the book “Emotional Intelligence” is about.
Daniel Goleman described in some detail what exactly emotional condition person, the well-being of his family, high quality personal relationships, happiness in his personal life, affect his success at work. If a person is smart but unhappy, that is, has a high IQ but a low EQ, then his chances of success will be several times less than that of a person whose coefficients are exactly the opposite.
This book is a complement to the previous one - it disseminates and expands the theory of EQ, concentrating on how this indicator matters for ordinary person at work. How can you measure your emotional intelligence? You will learn all this if you read this work of this wonderful writer.
What other books did Daniel Goleman write? As mentioned earlier, during his long career he became the author of more than twenty works, among which the previously described “Focus” and “Emotional Intelligence” stand out the most. However, there is one more piece that is definitely worth paying attention to. If you are interested in meditation, then you should definitely read this work. Goleman spent a lot of time in India, he is an expert on Buddhism, and also studied for many years various techniques meditation different countries, which I collected in this book. So if you are interested in altered states of consciousness, then this book is a must read in detail. You will gain a lot of useful information.
It is no longer a secret that achieving success in work and life is possible not only with a special mindset, hard work and professional skills, but also with a set of specific character traits, internal superiority and the art of managing other people.
Change life in better side It will be possible without possession of secret knowledge, it is enough to show initiative, faith in the best, adaptability and leadership. These qualities will help a person to express himself as an individual and survive in modern society. American psychologist, journalist and writer Daniel Goleman came to this conclusion in his book “Emotional Intelligence in Business.”
Daniel Goleman was born in 1946 and is the author of more than 10 books on education, psychology and the art of management. He received awards and international recognition for his research in the field of psychology and achievements in journalism. “Emotional Intelligence in Business” was released in 1995 and immediately gained popularity in many countries around the world. The reason for writing was two articles that described the connection between human intelligence and emotions.
Daniel Goleman by that time had experience as a journalist and a doctorate in psychology, which he received from Harvard. The knowledge he gained helped him write his life’s work, on the still popular topic of ways to achieve success at work. The book found a huge number of readers and fans, and it gained particular popularity in the business community.
After the book was published, Daniel Goleman began to receive feedback from people on the topic of personal achievements. Everyone who achieved success in their work without the proper level of education shared their impressions with him. The book helped to understand the reason for their victories, in contrast to other equally gifted, but not so lucky people.
The book consists of 5 parts, which are based on 25 elements of emotional intelligence, with the help of which you can achieve success at work.
Friendly relationships with the team, maintaining close friendly relationships, demonstrated leadership in decision making. The ability to find an approach to people for the sake of further cooperation and achievement of intended goals.
The gift of attraction and the ability to demonstrate the art of managing and influencing people's opinions. Be able to read and respect the feelings of others, empathize with them.
Self-development for solving assigned tasks at work, development in the character of aspiration and perseverance. The ability to push past failures and losses into the background.
The ability to manage emotions, the ability to self-control, even after experiencing emotional stress. Conscientiousness in work, respectful attitude towards others and work colleagues.
Analysis of experienced feelings and emotions, the ability to use them in solving problems and achieving goals. Assessing your knowledge, potential, and shortcomings.
Emotional intelligence helps to understand a person's ability to learn and use skills consisting of the listed criteria. It refers to how people transform capabilities in practice at work and at home. Goleman also highlighted the idea of creating companies with an emotional-intellectual basis.
Once upon a time, a job could be obtained in accordance with the education and professional skills acquired. Now this is not enough; they are considered only the primary requirements when applying for a job.
The employer takes into account the personal qualities of the candidate, which will be decisive in the selection. Attention is paid to the character, emotional maturity, desire for improvement, and communication skills of the potential candidate.
Emotional intelligence is necessary for the optimal functioning of a company or organization, employers believe so, so they try to increase its level in every possible way. Goleman believes that the popularity of such intelligence is limiting the development of a company due to large quantity competitors when creating new products and services. Therefore, in the world of competitive products, only emotional intelligence can lift a company.
The book presents the results of tests conducted among 120 organizations. Workers described their professional abilities and character traits that they believed helped them succeed at work. The study found that 65% of people believe their leadership and people management skills are at the core of their career advancement. The level of intelligence and professional knowledge are on a par with the behavioral skills of the employee, which are taken into account by the employer when promoting the employee.
Criteria that employers want to see in their subordinates:
Goleman is confident that emotional intelligence, when used correctly and appropriately, will help bring a person or company to new level to reach unprecedented heights. People of different positions should bring benefits to others and contribute to the development of the company.
Scientists do work for people and dream of gaining popularity due to their discoveries. Large corporations maintain a separate staff to maintain contact with consumers or potential clients to help resolve issues. In addition to their professional knowledge, these employees know how to listen to people, guide, motivate and influence them to achieve their goals. This is the meaning of their work.
Emotional intelligence is not just pleasant communication and expression of feelings, but the ability to express them correctly and appropriately, worrying about failures, supporting in successes, collaborating, in every sense of the word with other people.
High level intelligence and cognitive skills will always be valued in many areas of human activity. But, despite this, it has been established that obtaining the desired result depends on them only by 25%, and the remaining 75% goes to other factors. Therefore leaders public opinion in addition to knowledge and intelligence, they are also endowed with emotional and social competence, which distinguishes them from others.
Daniel Goleman noted the dependence of the position held on the level of emotional intelligence. High-level positions, according to Goleman, are losing the need for technical skills over time. Great importance To achieve the goal they have the following criteria:
In his book, Goleman recounts stories of company executives who were fired or demoted. The author explained this by the lack of competence of people who have reached the maximum and cannot continue to develop further due to a set of shortcomings, even despite a high IQ. Conducted research in the field of personnel selection has shown that such failures are based on stubbornness, intolerance of changes and change, unwillingness to communicate on equal terms with the team, and arrogance.
On the contrary, successful leadership is composed of calm, adequate people, whose leadership is manifested in everything, who are able to listen and heed the opinions of others, who are spontaneous, friendly, responsive, and who know how to save “face” in an unpleasant situation. The author considers emotional intelligence to be an acquired factor, not an innate one. People themselves are responsible for the emotional and social development, you can always improve and train your ability to express feelings and emotions.
The book is easy to read, it is useful for self-development, increasing personal knowledge and enriching professional communication. Useful for psychologists, company executives, and businessmen. It will also appeal to students, teachers and those interested in psychology. Reading the book is useful for those who want to learn how to manage emotions, learn self-control, understand the feelings and emotions of other people, learn to find mutual language with others.
Although the book contains a lot of terms, it is not difficult to read. The given examples are from the life of the author and instructive stories from corporate life is interesting and entertaining to read. For those who do not like to read or do not have time for this, there is an audiobook “Emotional Intelligence”.
An audiobook has the same content as a paper book. You can listen to it while traveling or while doing everyday activities. The book will help change your idea of work and your capabilities, teach corporate culture and correct behavior in a team.
Daniel Goleman (March 7, 1946) is a famous American psychologist and science journalist.
For twelve years he wrote articles for The New York Times, specializing in psychology and brain sciences. He has written more than 10 books on psychology, education, science and leadership.
He received worldwide recognition after the release of the book “Emotional Intelligence,” which remained on the New York Times bestseller list for more than a year and a half.
Goleman has received numerous awards for his research, including a lifetime achievement award from the American Psychological Association. He was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in recognition of his work in the popularization of science. Twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
Focus. About attention, distraction and life success
In the book “Focus. On Attention, Distraction, and Success in Life,” psychologist and journalist Daniel Goleman offers an innovative look at the most valuable resource of our time, hiding a secret. successful work and self-realization - attention.
Combining cutting-edge theoretical research with practical examples, the author examines the phenomenon of attention in a variety of aspects, offering a serious and long overdue conversation about this little-studied and undervalued ability of our consciousness.
To survive in today's world of distractions, the ability to sharpen your focus is essential, Goleman convincingly shows.
Emotional intellect
Is it related to the intelligence quotient (IQ), which determines the degree of mental development of a person?
Why do people with an average IQ often achieve success in life and career, while those with a very high IQ cannot realize themselves?
What methods exist for measuring the level of emotional intelligence?
Emotional intelligence at work
What is emotional intelligence (EQ)?
Is it related to the intelligence quotient (IQ), which determines the degree of mental development of a person? Why do people with well-developed emotional intelligence make careers and achieve financial success faster and easier than those whose IQ is very high? How to increase your level of emotional intelligence?
The famous psychologist Daniel Goleman, the founder of the theory of emotional intelligence, answers these and many other important questions in his superbestseller.
