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A Summary of ³Emotional Intelligence´ By Daniel Goleman
The intelligence tests were originally designed to screen the candidates with higher level of mental alertness. It is another debate whether intelligence equates to the IQ scores but it is a fact that majority of the successful people score average on IQ tests. Mental alertness may play some role but it is not the main reason of success, in most of the cases. Then what are requirements for a successful life? People have been trying to answer this question for centuries. A lot has been said and much more shall be told in future. Daniel Goleman presented ³Emotional Intelligence´ as a main factor of success. He rejected the conventional concepts of intelligence, IQ scoring reliability and alertness of mind as elements of success. He argued that self-control, zeal and persistence are the main features of every successful story. This summary of ³Emotional Intelligence´ by Daniel Goleman is an attempt to review his ideas. However, it should not be taken as an alternative to the book.

Title and Introduction
The intriguing title of ³Emotional Intelligence´ by Daniel Goleman claims the book as ground breaking. It also suggests that the book shall redefine what it means to be smart. The sub-title starts the controversy by informing that emotional intelligence is more important than the IQ scoring. The introductory chapter ³Aristotle Challenge´ begins with a quotation from Aristotle on aggressive emotions. The challenge is offered to those who consider that intelligence alone is sufficient to make their life successful. The hereditary theories of intelligence are criticized. Psychologist Daniel Goleman states that emotional intelligence (EQ) is actually more crucial than general intelligence (IQ) in terms of career success. Emotional intelligence refers to how well an individual handles herself and others rather than how smart she is or how capable she is in terms of technical skills. Emotional intelligence includes the attributes of self-awareness, impulse control, persistence, confidence, selfmotivated, empathy, and social deftness. Think of EQ as being the social equivalent of IQ. In organizations undergoing rapid change, emotional intelligence may determine who get promoted and who gets passed over or who gets laid off and who stays, according to Goleman. Studies have consistently shown, for example, that the competencies associated with emotional intelligence (e.g., the ability to persuade others, the ability to understand others, and so on) are twice as important for career success as intelligence (IQ) or technical competencies.

Part I
The book is comprised of five parts with 16 chapters and six appendixes. The first part ³The Emotional Brain´ consists of two chapters which focus upon the physical side of the emotional intelligence.

Chapter 1: What are Emotions for? Chapter 2: Anatomy of an Emotional Hijacking. In these chapters Daniel Goldman describes the dynamic interrelation of the cortex and the limbic system. The cortex is considered a seat of rationality while the limbic system is the part of brain where your emotions are processed. He presents emotional intelligence in the sense of moderation of primitive emotional impulses by the rational mind. He suggests that the emotional intelligence can be learnt with practice.

Part II
This part, ³The Nature of Emotional Intelligence´ comprises of six chapters. Chapter 3: When Smart is Dumb Chapter 4: Know Thyself Chapter 5: Passion¶s Slave Chapter 6: The Master Aptitude Chapter 7: The roots of empathy Chapter 8: The Social Arts In chapter 3, Daniel Goleman quotes a number of studies to prove that many high IQ scoring students have failed in their practical lives while many average people have got phenomenon successes. He claims that if the IQ scoring has to play any role in your success, it can¶t be more than 20%. He also claims that your 80% success is based on your emotional intelligence. The Chapter 4 discusses a reflexive mode of experience which the author calls ³self-awareness´ or ³selfobservation´. He assimilates self-awareness with Freud¶s ³evenly hovering attention´. However, he fails to differentiate between consciousness and thought, like Freud. He says that you should know yourself and your strengths instead of your IQ test and its results. Chapter 5, ³Passion¶s Slaves´, states that emotional disorders need pharmacological help. However, there are certain disorders like manic-depression where the patient never feels any need for medication. The author claims that such severe emotional disorders can hamper your success if not handled properly. He also gives considerable attention to depressive states. He says that when you are depressed, you need to focus your attention to some upbeat activity. However, you should always avoid tragic movies, novels and stories which shall drag your mood further down. Observing that anger is the most difficult emotional impulse to resist, Goleman rejects the popular myth that ³ventilating´ is an effective way of reducing anger. However, he also does not support pushing the anger

out of awareness. He goes for a third option and suggests that you should experience anger by assuming that anger belongs to some other person. In Chapter 6, ³The Master Aptitude,´ Goleman highlights importance of emotional traits such as enthusiasm and persistence. He says that most of the Asian students show better record of success than their white counterparts, not for their IQ level but persistence to improve their weaknesses. In Chapter 7, ³The Roots of Empathy,´ Daniel Goldman presents emotional intelligence in gender distribution. He considers that women are better than men in empathy. He also suggests that empathy helps with romantic life. He demonstrates an appreciation of emotions as an instrument of knowledge. The author continues in chapter 8, ³The Social Arts´, that there is more to attunement than the emotional element.

Part III
This part of the book, ³Emotional Intelligence Applied´, is comprised of three chapters: Chapter 9: Intimate Enemies Chapter 10: Managing with Heart Chapter 11: Mind and Medicine. Chapter 9 deals with the role of emotion in marital life. It focuses upon the amount of expressive emotions that each sex makes during different times of their lives. They have good friends from the opposite sexes in their early lives but slowly lose their interest until they achieve puberty and start dating. Different studies are placed to prove that girls can express their emotions better than boys. The reason lies in the fact that girls learn languages more quickly than boys do. Daniel Goleman observes that men are reluctant to talk with their wives about their relationship. He also observes that men may have a rosier view than their wives of just about everything in relationship² lovemaking, finances, ties with in-laws, how well they listened to each other, how much their flaws mattered. Wives, in general, are more vocal about their complaints than their husbands, particularly among unhappy couples. In Chapter 10, ³Managing with Heart,´ Goleman quotes a study conducted on a group where each member is a star in the academic IQ test results. The results were astonishing. Some proved excellent and others yielded average or even below average results in an emotional intelligence test. Consider, for example, a study of star performers at Bell Labs, the world-famous scientific think tank near Princeton. The labs are peopled by engineers and scientists who are all at the top on academic IQ tests. But within this pool of talent, some emerge as stars, while others are only average in their output. What makes the difference between stars and the others is not their academic IQ, but their emotional IQ. They are better able to motivate themselves, and better able to work their informal networks into ad hoc teams.

The ³stars´ were studied in one division at the labs, a unit that creates and designs the electronic switches that control telephone systems²a highly sophisticated and demanding piece of electronic engineering. Because the work is beyond the capacity of any one person to tackle, it is done in teams that can range from just 5 or so engineers to 150. No single engineer knows enough to do the job alone; getting things done demands on tapping other people¶s expertise. To find out what made the difference between those who were highly productive and those who were only average, Robert Kelley and Janet Caplan had managers and peers nominate the 10 to 15 percent of engineers who stood out as stars. When they compared the stars with everyone else, the most dramatic finding, at first, was the paucity of differences between the two groups. ³Based on a wide range of cognitive and social measures, from standard tests for IQ to personality inventories, there¶s little meaningful difference in innate abilities,´ Kelley and Caplan wrote in the Harvard Business Review. ³As it develops, academic talent was not a good predictor of on-the-job productivity, nor was IQ. But after detailed interviews, the critical difference emerged in the internal and interpersonal strategies ³stars´ used to get their work done. One of the most important turned out to be a rapport with a network of key people. The ultimate study proved that the stars in the emotional intelligence tests were the people who used to get their work finished. Interestingly, it is one of the main characteristics of the successful people. The reported result is an artifact of the flawed methodology of Kelley and Caplan. Of course people with good interpersonal skills are going to win a popularity contest, but this proves nothing about their productivity. It¶s a truism that the real ³stars´ in scientific and technical fields are often maladjusted nerds. The ultimate study proved that the stars in the emotional intelligence tests were the people who used to get their work finished. Interestingly, it is one of the main characteristics of the successful people. However, the average or the below average scorers in the emotional intelligence people were those who start many tasks at a time and leave most of them unfinished. It is one of the reasons behind most of the unsuccessful people. In Chapter 11, ³Mind and Medicine,´ Goleman summarizes a recent research on the relationship between health and the emotions. Among many interesting findings reported in this chapter one is the following: ³A network of researchers is finding that the chemical messengers that operate most extensively in both brain and immune system are those that are most dense in neural areas that regulate emotion.´ People who experience chronic anxiety, long periods of sadness and pessimism, unremitting tension or incessant hostility, relentless cynicism or suspiciousness, face double the risk of disease²including asthma, arthritis, headaches, peptic ulcers, and heart disease.

Part IV
This part, ³Windows of Opportunity´, comprises of three chapters: Chapter 12: The Family Crucible Chapter 13: Trauma and Emotional Relearning

Chapter 14: Temperament is not Destiny In a section titled ³Abuse: The Extinction of Empathy´ in Chapter 12, ³The Family Crucible,´ Goleman writes that the children who are often subject of beating by their parents react with the same way in distress. They loose empathy if they have to face such situations frequently. In Chapter 13, ³Trauma and Emotional Relearning,´ Goleman observes that when you face trauma you may end in biological problems. But the problem becomes severe when you are put in an uncontrollable stress. The Chapter 14, ³Temperament is not Destiny,´ quotes a study. The people having strong right and left frontal activity were tested on a personality test. The first group showed a distinctive behavior. They were prone to be moody, suspicious of the world and worried on small problems. However, the second group showed entirely different trends. They were lower in depression, more confident and rewardingly engaged in life.

Part V
The part V, ³Emotional Literacy´, comprises of two last chapters: Chapter 15: The Cost of Emotional Literacy Chapter 16: Schooling the Emotions In Chapter 15, ³The Cost of Emotional Illiteracy,´ Goleman writes that some people are unable to differentiate between being scared and angry. They feel more hunger in depressing situations and eat more to gain weight. The author also indicates that the people with few friends or with extreme tendencies for loneliness are at great risk of medical diseases and early death. The chapter 16, ³Schooling the Emotions´ is the final chapter of the book. Here Goleman concludes the book with training programs to educate you ³Self Science´. He also mentions emotional coaching such as ³Resolving Conflict Creatively Program´ in the New York public schools, in which children are encouraged to ³be assertive´ and articulate their feelings in situations involving conflict with others. He says that emotional intelligence can be taught. However, it is not enough to lecture children. Instead, they should be allowed to see ethics in practice. Furthermore, they should be given different models of ethics so that they may develop their own value conclusions. Benefits High EQ can lead to - Increased productivity - Enhanced leadership skills - Improved responsiveness - Greater creativity - Create enthusiastic work environments

- Reduce stress levels - Resolve emotional issues - Improve the well being of employees - Improve relationships

EQ serves as a valuable tool for HR professionals and managers who intend to bring about changes in their organizations. Managers who can use the applications of EI help employees become better team players, show greater creativity in their work and increase overall productivity through the powerful techniques of integrating and applying emotional intelligence at workplace. Having the ability to understand what motivates individual employees, an EI manager adapts management style to their unique values and motives.

Q & A:
a) Write a short note on EI/EQ b) How can EQ/EI be applied in the corporate world? c) Give examples of companies using these concepts in India?

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