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Can Emotional Intelligence Be Learned? Resource: “What makes a Leader,” Harvard Business Review, January 2004 For most of us in education, we have noticed more requests for soft skills training. Daniel Goleman brought this to the forefront in 1995 with his book entitled, Emotional Intelligence, published by Bantam Books (342 pp). He also wrote Working with Emotional Intelligence in 1999 also published by Bantam Books (392 pp). Daniel Goleman suggests that intelligence, toughness, determination, and vision are required for success. However, these qualities alone are not sufficient. Truly effective leaders are distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligence. In both of his books, Goleman shares the five components of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skill. “What Makes a Leader?” is an article written by Daniel Goleman and published by the Harvard Business Review, January 2004. This article is nine pages in length but the area of interest was a section of 2 pages entitled, “Can Emotional Intelligence Be Learned?” Daniel Goleman states that emotional intelligence increases with age but “who wants to wait that long?”. We have seen in today’s work environment that some people with maturity still require training. Goleman says, “to enhance emotional intelligence, organizations must refocus their training to include the limbic system of the brain. Educators must help leaders break old behavioral habits and establish new ones.” In his works, Daniel Goleman shares his experience researching emotional intelligence. He shares the following example of the kind of dedication needed for success in this article. “After attending a workshop on emotional intelligence, a participant requested a coach to shadow him for parts of the day, several times a week. After these events, the coach critiqued how he treated people with a new or different perspective. This participant also requested he be videotaped during meetings to critique his ability to acknowledge and understand the feelings of others.” This kind of concerned effort cannot take place without a sincere desire to increase one’s emotional intelligence. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Learning is the responsibility of the individual. Neither a brief seminar nor a “how-to” manual can strengthen the soft skills. With enthusiastic commitment to change, one can increase their emotional intelligence. Daniel Goleman says, “Of course [emotional intelligence improvement] takes more time, and it also requires an individual approach. With persistence and practice, this can lead to lasting positive results.”
Reviewer: See book review comments below
Good job, Mary. I enjoyed your review. I
too, as an educator, feel the responsibility of increased leadership
skills to be the responsibility of a dedicated learner as did Goleman.
I have also read this HBR article and I found it to be much less
complicated than Goleman's EI book. I appreciated his streamlined,
to-the-point article and I agree |
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