Saikal Kushubekova

BSAD 685
Professor Jeff Fahrenwald
Book Report
30 October 2015
Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ (1995)
Emotional Intelligence, or its shorthand EQ, is a relatively recent behavioral model
which rose to its prominence when in 1995 Daniel Goleman published his book Emotional
Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ published (Goleman 2004).
Undoubtedly, emotional aspect and social abilities play their role in contributing to
persons individual success. In addition, EQ is significant to organizational development as
well as developing peoples corporate success.
EQ is strongly influenced by personal qualities among which are major elements
such as perseverance, self-awareness, communication skills, self-control, motivation and
number of other personal abilities (Deleon 2015).
The term emotional intelligence was originally coined by two psychologists John
Mayer and Peter Salovey in 1990, however, it was Daniel Goleman who brought this
concept to a wide business audience and further popularized it with his 1998 Harvard
Business Review article (Goleman 2004).
There is number of articles in the academic literature that connects emotional
intelligence to high performing organizations that produce better business results. In other
words, business environments that have employees with high EQ who are capable of
working in teams and who have strong emotional skills mentioned earlier in this paper are
more likely to achieve organizational success and stay self-sufficient for a long-term period.
According to Goleman, EQ is: Understanding ones own feelings, empathy for the
feelings of others, and the regulation of emotion in a way that enhances living (Watts,

Cockroft & Duncan, 2009, p. 359). The major idea of this statement is that emotional
intelligence may be the key characteristic of persons individual success and development
and, unlike intelligence quotient (IQ), can be further improved and updated.
Besides, personal improvement, Golemans emotional intelligence theory can also
be applied to management situations. We are living in the world where traditional
management techniques are no longer popular and where managers are looking for those
who can work as a team and those with developed social skills.
In his book, Daniel Goleman identifies the following five major dimensions of EQ:
self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and people skills (Deleon 2015).
Knowing and being aware of emotions, acknowledging strengths and weaknesses makes it
easier to handle critical situations. Managing, having control of ones emotions and
restraining feelings when expressed is attributable to EQ. Motivation is yet another
characteristic that defines emotionally intelligent personalities; they are driven by their
ambitions and, as a rule, financial incentives or job promotion are not strong drivers of their
success. To succeed at work and to be able to create high-performing organization, one
needs to realize and understand other peoples emotions and feelings. Empathy is rooted in
human nature and understanding this human nature is essential in building strong
relationships with others and, thus, creating an atmosphere of emotional connectivity among
employees. Last but not least domain of EQ is managing relations with other individuals.
People with emotional intelligence have the capacity of avoiding conflicts and
building/gaining respect of others.
Now that we have an idea of what emotional intelligence entails, having employees,
managers and leaders behave in an emotionally intelligent manner in the workplace may
significantly increase chances of gaining personal and professional success. Clearly, all the
attributes of EQ that were mentioned above, are quintessential for the personal and
professional achievement.

The main premise behind Golemans work is that in order to become a successful
worker, manager or business leader, it is important to be able to connect with yourself and
with other people emotionally. Emotional intelligence - understanding oneselfs feelings as
well as realizing other peoples emotions - enhances living. There might be numerous critics
of Daniel Golemans emotional intelligence theory, but I believe that no one can discard the
significance of acknowledging and managing emotions in personal life and in the workplace.
References
Goleman, D. (2005). Emotional intelligence: why it can matter more than IQ. 10th Ed., New
York, NY: Bantam Books
Goleman, D. What makes a leader? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from:
https://hbr.org/2004/01/what-makes-a-leader
Deleon, M. The importance of emotional intelligence at work. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245755
Watts, J., Cockroft, K., Duncan, N. (2009). Developmental psychology. Cape Town, South
Africa: UCT Press