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Business leaders who maintain that emotions are best kept out of the work
environment do so at their organization's peril. Bestselling author Daniel
Goleman's theories on emotional intelligence (EI) have radically altered
common understanding of what "being smart" entails, and in Primal
Leadership, he and his coauthors present the case for cultivating emotionally
intelligent leaders. Since the actions of the leader apparently account
for up to 70 percent of employees' perception of the climate of their
organization, Goleman and his team emphasize the importance of developing
what they term "resonant leadership." Focusing on the four domains
of emotional intelligence--self-awareness, self-management, social awareness,
and relationship management--they explore what contributes to and detracts
from resonant leadership, and how the development of these four EI competencies
spawns different leadership styles. The best leaders maintain a style
repertoire, switching easily between "visionary," "coaching,"
"affiliative," and "democratic," and making rare use
of less effective "pace-setting" and "commanding"
styles. The authors' discussion of these methods is informed by research
on the workplace climates engendered by the leadership styles of more
than 3,870 executives. Indeed, the experiences of leaders in a wide range
of work environments lend real-life examples to much of the advice Goleman
et al. offer, from developing the motivation to change and creating an
improvement plan based on learning rather than performance outcomes, to
experimenting with new behaviors and nurturing supportive relationships
that encourage change and growth. The book's final section takes the personal
process of developing resonant leadership and applies it to the entire
organizational culture.
--S. Ketchum
From Publishers Weekly
"The fundamental task of leaders... is to prime good feeling in those
they lead. That occurs when a leader creates resonance a reservoir of
positivity that unleashes the best in people. At its root, then, the primal
job of leadership is emotional." So argue Goleman (Emotional Intelligence)
and EI (emotional intelligence) experts Boyatzis and McKee. They use the
word "primal" not only in its original sense, but also to stress
that making employees feel good (i.e., inspired and empowered) is the
job a leader should do first. To prove that the need to lead and to respond
to leadership is innate, the authors cite numerous biological studies
of how people learn and react to situations (e.g., an executive's use
of innate self-awareness helps her to be open to criticism). And to demonstrate
the importance of emotion to leadership, they note countless examples
of different types of leaders in similar situations, and point out that
the ones who get their employees emotionally engaged accomplish far more.
Perhaps most intriguing is the brief appendix, where the authors compare
the importance of IQ and EI in determining a leader's effectiveness. Their
conclusion that EI is more important isn't surprising, but their reasoning
is. Since one has to be fairly smart to be a senior manager, IQ among
top managers doesn't vary widely. However, EI does. Thus, the authors
argue, those managers with higher EI will be more successful. (Mar. 11)Forecast:
Goleman already has a legion of fans from his early books on EI. His publisher
is banking on his fame; the house has planned a $250,000 campaign and
a 100,000 first printing.
From Library Journal
Goleman (Emotional Intelligence) teams with Richard E. Boyatzis (Weatherhead
Sch. of Management, Case Western Reserve) and Annie McKee (Management
Development Services, North America, Hay Group) to focus on the relationship
between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and successful leadership. The authors
define EI as handling one's emotions well when dealing with others and
go on to describe how EI makes good leaders. Throughout, the authors talk
about leaders exhibiting "resonance," defined as bringing out
the best in people by being positive about their emotions, and "dissonance,"
defined as bringing out the worst in people by undermining their emotions.
The book is arranged in three sections, with the first section describing
the characteristics of resonant and dissonant leadership as well as the
four dimensions of EI, which are self-awareness, self-management, social
awareness, and relationship management. This section also describes the
different types of leadership styles, such as visionary, coaching, and
commanding. The second section outlines the steps one needs to take to
become a more positive leader, and the third section discusses how to
use these newfound skills to build a better organization. Real-life leadership
stories are provided throughout. Recommended for public, corporate, and
academic libraries.
-- Stacey Marien (American Univ., Washington, DC)
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
"Great leaders move us, . . . ignite passion, and inspire the best
in us"--so the authors offer as the premise of this provocative book.
In and of itself, this assertion is hardly groundbreaking. The book distinguishes
itself by departing from ho-hum leadership treatises to put forth a winning
concept the authors call emotional intelligence, which is defined as the
ability to handle our emotions and our relationships in a positive way.
Goleman is a researcher and author of the best-selling Emotional Intelligence
(1995); Richard Boyatzis is a professor of management; and the third coauthor,
Annie McKee, is a graduate-level education instructor. Drawing on their
own field observations as well as research into brain functioning and
chemistry, the authors demonstrate the connection between emotional intelligence
and leadership. Leaders, in their estimation, can and must drive their
organizations by using positive emotions. Basically speaking, people want
to work for those who exude upbeat feelings. Conversely, "the power
of toxic leadership to poison the emotional climate of a workplace"
is considerable. Well-written, intelligent, approachable, and stimulating
business books have a way of sneaking onto best-seller lists. This one
just might do exactly that.
-- Brad Hooper
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