Summary of The Emotional Intelligence of Leaders by Daniel Goleman

Goleman introduces the term of emotional intelligence in this article. Goleman shows that having all the usual qualities attributed to leaders such as intellect and vision is insufficient. To be an effective leader and to distinguish you from other leaders these leaders will need to be emotionally intelligent. Emotional intelligence can be learnt so it’s never too late to gain these skills to be a success. Goleman states there are five characteristics of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, managing emotions, motivating others, showing empathy and staying connected. Goleman discusses each component of emotional intelligence and explains how to spot them in leaders and how they help in being emotionally stable. Goleman equates emotional intelligence with business success. Every leader possesses some of these characteristics on various levels; however, individuals will need a high level of emotional intelligence to excel as leaders in the workplace.

Self Awareness

According to Goleman leaders with emotional intelligence are self-aware and have the ability to do self assessments and make decisions based on these assessments which ultimately will take in consideration your emotions. Self awareness and self assessments are important skills which will allow leaders to assess their strengths and weaknesses. Additionally according to Goleman, with self awareness comes self confidence. If you are sure you are doing the right thing then you will become self confident this will give you courage and be able to lead your organization and make decisive decisions. This characteristic allows leaders to be aware of their feelings.

Managing Emotions

Managing emotions is about learning how to handle your emotions while the previous characteristic dealt with being aware of your feelings.