Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee (2002). Boston: Harvard Business School Press. 305 pages, $26.95 (cloth). ISBN 1–57851–486-X.
✍ Scribed by Kit Brooks
- Book ID
- 102254898
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2003
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 48 KB
- Volume
- 14
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1044-8004
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
In his two previous best-selling books, Emotional Intelligence (1995) and Working with Emotional Intelligence (1998), Daniel Goleman helped catapult the concept of emotional intelligence (EI)-being intelligent about emotions-beyond academic and therapeutic discussion. His presentation of research and practice linking personal, professional, and organizational success with competencies associated with emotional intelligence met with favor across a broad audience. In his third book, Primal Leadership, Goleman, codirector of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations at Rutgers University has collaborated with Richard Boyatzis, professor at the Weatherhead School of Management, and Annie McKee, from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, to expand this discussion and explore the role of emotional intelligence in leadership. Specifically, the authors attempt to answer the following questions: What emotional resources do leaders need in order to thrive amidst chaos and turbulent change? What gives a leader the inner strength to be honest about even painful truths? What enables a leader to inspire others to do their best work and to stay loyal when other jobs beckon? And how do leaders create an emotional climate that fosters creative innovations, all-out performance, or warm and lasting customer relationships?
Primal leadership is a concept that is presented, described, and elegantly defended by the authors. "Our basic argument, in a nutshell, is that primal leadership operates at its best through emotionally intelligent leaders who create resonance. Underlying that proposition is a theory of performance, one that surfaces the links between the neurology of the four fundamentals of emotional intelligence and the EI competencies that build on these fundamentals. These EI competencies are in turn the building blocks of the model of leadership that prime resonance in a group" (p. 38). Furthermore, this "priming" occurs when a leader creates resonance-a reservoir of positivity-and therefore the root of leadership is emotional (p. viii). By citing diverse leadership and brain research, case studies, and offering a model for practice, Primal Leadership goes beyond a purely academic context. By grounding the model with breakthroughs in brain and neurology research, leadership and motivation theory, and practical insights, the content of Primal Leadership is appropriate for those in management, education, or the general reader. A specialized background is not required in order to understand the presentation of scientific data and its relationship to the subject. The organization of the text also facilitates easy understanding of the content.