“There is no separation of mind and emotions; emotions, thinking, and learning are all linked.” – Eric Jensen
“What really matters for success, character, happiness, and lifelong achievements is a definite set of emotional skills – your EQ — not just purely cognitive abilities that are measured by conventional IQ tests.” – Daniel Goleman
“75% of careers are derailed for reasons related to emotional competencies, including inability to handle interpersonal problems; unsatisfactory team leadership during times of difficulty or conflict; or inability to adapt to change or elicit trust.” – The Center for Creative Leadership
Emotional intelligence is something that many teachers and educators talk about a lot these days. Being emotionally intelligent means being able to understand and manage your emotions. It also means being able to understand the emotions of others.
Possessing emotional intelligence will inevitably lead you to success both professionally and personally. With the help of emotional intelligence, you will be able to build strong meaningful relationships with other people and be more successful at school and work. You will know what exactly you want from life. You will be able to turn your thoughts into actions, which will ultimately lead you to success too.
If you want to be a team leader or run a business, you will need emotional intelligence without a doubt. If leaders are lacking emotional intelligence, they will not be able to motivate and inspire their employees. They will not be able to connect with them, which will almost inevitably lead to them being demotivated. In fact, research shows that those leaders whose emotional intelligence is low are experiencing problems with high turnovers in their businesses.
If you want to be an emotionally intelligent person, you can start working to develop skills related to emotional intelligence. In this article, we are going to talk about the books that deal with emotional intelligence. Here are the most important books on emotional intelligence that will have you get a better understanding of this concept and how to develop it.
1. Daniel Goleman, – Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ.
When people talk about emotional intelligence and its importance, they are mostly unaware of who coined this term. They usually believe that it was Daniel Goleman who introduced this concept first. But it is not so.
The term “emotional intelligence” was first introduced by Mayer and Salovey in 1990. Back then they explained that emotional intelligence was “the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions”. David Goleman familiarized himself with their research on emotional intelligence during the 1990s and in 1995 he published his book based on their ideas. The book is titled “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ” in 1995. This is the most important book that people wanting to learn more about emotional intelligence need to read it.
In this book, Goleman argues that IQ is not the only basis for people’s career success. Emotional intelligence is an equally important factor. He also argues that emotional intelligence is not a trait of character, but a set of skills. According to Goleman, emotional Intelligence includes self-motivation, empathy, and being able to control one’s impulses as well as many others.
2. Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, Annie McKee. – Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence.
This book was published in 2001 for the first time and it focuses largely on the issues of leadership development. Therefore, this book can be useful to those who lead teams and oversee businesses. One of the book’s advantages is that it can be read easily by both academic as well as non-academic audiences. Importantly, this book provides readers with a lot of practical advice on how to build “emotionally intelligent” organizations.
3. Daniel Goleman. – Working with Emotional Intelligence.
In this book, Daniel Goleman is more specific about how competencies that emotional intelligence encompasses can be used in the sphere of work. Again, one may find this book mainly focused on the professional world and therefore it is mainly useful for managers of organizations. The book consists of five chapters and very easy to read and go through.
4. Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves, – Emotional Intelligence 2.0.
Unlike previously discussed books, this one is more focused on deep research questions relating to the topic of emotional intelligence. To be more exact, this book will help you understand how to develop various aspects of your own emotional intelligence such as self-management, social awareness, relationship management and self-awareness.
5. Steven J. Stein. – Emotional Intelligence for Dummies.
This book is mainly aimed at non-academic audiences; therefore, it is very accessible and readable. This book is also geared toward helping readers to develop various areas of their emotional intelligence. It also gives advice on how to manage our interpersonal relationships. Interestingly, the author talks about the signs of low emotional intelligence. These include overestimating your abilities, not being able to control your emotions, and having difficulty adapting to change. The author also provides the readers with advice on how to work on these problems.
6. Colleen Stanley. – Emotional Intelligence for Sales Success: Connect with Customers and Get Results.
As is evident from the title of the book, emotional intelligence is something that businesses can harness to attract more customers and improve sales. The book is based on various case studies and
meticulous research. The author demonstrates how emotional intelligence is important during all stages of sales.
7. Daniel Goleman. – The Power of Emotional Intelligence: Selected Writings.
Another popular book written by Daniel Goleman. Here the author is mainly talking about the link between emotional intelligence and excellent leadership skills. He also tells us how leaders make use of their self-awareness, self-management, and empathy in their everyday life. He also elaborates on the “neuro” aspect of our interactions with other people. Finally, Goleman provides leaders and business managers with advice on how to motivate their employees and engage them in developing emotional intelligence.
8. Annie McKee, Richard Boyatzic. – Becoming a Resonant Leader: Develop Your Emotional Intelligence, Renew Your Relations, Sustain Your Effectiveness.
The authors of the book introduce and explain the concept of a “resonant leader”. They argue that being “resonant” helps leaders effectively manage their employees’ emotions. Such “resonant” leaders are better at establishing relationships with their colleagues and co-workers, creating a favourable environment for everyone. The book also contains a list of interactive activities that will help you understand your values and strengths when it comes to leadership.
9. David R. Caruso, Peter Salovey. – The Emotionally Intelligent Manager: How to Develop and Use the Four Key Emotional Skills of Leadership.
This book is written by one of the pioneers in the research on emotional intelligence Peter Salovey. Salovey explains how we can better understand, develop, and make use of the four main competencies related to emotional intelligence. These include being able to perceive emotions, thinking using our emotions, understanding, and managing our emotions.
10. Joshua Freedman. – At the Heart of Leadership: How to Get Results with Emotional Intelligence.
Most books written on emotional intelligence are academic in nature and may be difficult to read. But this book is different. While this book is based on extensive research and many scientific facts, it is an easy read, and it does not overwhelm the reader. The book starts with an elaborate explanation of why emotional intelligence is important. It gives clear and relatable examples of how emotional intelligence can help us enhance our performance and productivity.
11. Gill Hasson. Emotional Intelligence Pocketbook: Little Exercises for an Intuitive Life.
This book is essentially a collection of practical exercises which will help you develop emotional intelligence. This book also contains relatable examples which eloquently illustrate the importance of the whole concept.
It goes without saying that emotional intelligence is a skill that will never lose its relevance. We are human beings and emotions are an important part of our life. They inform our actions, decisions, and our lives in general. The more aware we are of our emotions, the more we know about them – the better we will be able to live our life happily and productively.
Learning to be emotionally intelligent always requires some work on yourself. You can start doing this work by choosing one of the books from the list presented in this article. If you wish to learn about more emotional intelligence, check out other articles in our Shiminly Blog.
Russ Gadzhiev obtained his PhD in history and politics from University of Melbourne. He also holds a master’s degree in International Relations from Moscow State University of International Relations, a top-ranking diplomatic school. Russ is a strong education professional with a history of working in the higher education sector of Australia and effectively communicates with learners from diverse cultural backgrounds. He is enthusiastic about teaching and mentoring, writing, curriculum development, research, information management and public speaking. He is fluent in Russian, English, Spanish and Portuguese.
