This book is answering such questions as: 1) How to define ?emotional intelligence?; 2) How developing your emotional intelligence contributes to your success in life; and 3) How managers can use emotional intelligence to improve group performance. Key point from the book is that IQ contributes only 20% to life success, the rest of your achievements come from ?emotional intelligence?. Skills like self-awareness and self-motivation are instilled (or destroyed) in childhood, but Goleman claims that adults still can learn and apply them.

Emotional Intelligence

Researches that have been done recent years into the biology of personality and emotion indicate that intelligence and personality is determined by genesis. So why do some intelligent people fail in life while other less intelligent prosper? And What can you change about yourself? Emotional intelligence as set of abilities will help us to answer those questions.
Evolution gave us emotions so to cope with dangerous situations. In reality we have two minds ? one that thinks and one that feels. Emotional mind is impulsive and powerful while rational one lets a person ponder and reflect. Usually those to works in harmony, but because of intense feelings the emotional mind sometimes dominate the rational.
The brainstem ? center of passionate emotion influences memory and learning. The neocortex (where the brain thinks) evolved later, and then amygdale grew on the sides of the brain and give life passion and emotional meaning. When crisis occurs, the amygdale reacts far more quickly than the neocortex. That is why emotions can interfere with attention span and every aspect of clear thinking. We should strive to find an intelligent balance of reason and emotion instead of trying to eliminate feelings.

Emotional Intelligence components.
80% of life success is defined by emotional intelligence, including factors such as the ability to motivate yourself, persistence, impulse control, mood regulation, empathy and hope.The five areas of emotional intelligence are self-awareness, managing emotions, self-motivation, empathy and handling relationships.

Self - Awareness
It?s about knowing your emotions, ongoing attention to your internal states, ability to change your moods. Because emotions can be conscious and unconscious it?s critical to be aware about our mood and our thoughts about that mood so we can evaluate and better control our feelings, build foundation for managing emotions.

Managing Emotions
It?s about how long and intensely our emotion will endure, balancing our emotions, the art of soothing the surge of emotions. Rage is one of the most difficult emotions to escape, one of the reason for that is because anger is energizing and even exhilaration, which can last for hours. Resolution ? seek for distractions (help others, accomplish some small tasks, exercise), it?s also applicable in case of depression. And one of the most powerful tool is to look at the situation in a more positive light.

Self ? Motivation
Critical life skill? the greatest athletes, musicians and chess masters achieved their success because of the ability to stick with arduous practice, year after year. Because emotions can enhance or limit the capacity to use innate abilities, ability to sustain emotions and delay impulses becomes so critical?

Peak-performance state is the feeling you have when you?re fully engaged in a task where you have advanced skills and love the work involved, it?s a flow state. Because the brain becomes calmer during the flow it enables you to finish challenging tasks with minimal energy. To achieve flow we can learn by doing the activities that we love to.

Empathy
It?s about to be calm enough to be able to read subtle, nonverbal signals from other people, their feelings. People with this ability is better adjusted, more popular, more outgoing and more sensitive.

Handling Relationships
It?s about sensing the emotions of others and controlling the signals you send, so the more you can control the effect you have on others. We?re sending emotional signals during every encounter and unconsciously imitate the emotions that others emanate. The more we synchronized with each other, the more we share moods and coordination of moods is a key determinant of interpersonal effectiveness.

Emotional Intelligence can be applied at:
- management. Feedback is the basic currency of managerial emotional intelligence. Effective managers must learn to provide it and to intelligently accept. Always focus on solutions. Team success is based on ability of team members to work together in harmony and to take advantage of each other talents.
- marriage. Because men and women learn different emotional skills as children, we should learn how to criticize an action without attacking the person who committed to act so to avoid fight responses.
- child raising. Because the recent studies show a decline in emotional health of children across the industrialized world, effective use and importance to teach others five key emotional intelligence skills becomes more and more critical.


Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
Copyright ? 1995 by Daniel Goleman. Published by arrangement with The
Bantam Dell Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
384 pages