 | The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights |
Average customer review:
(3 customer reviews)
Product Description
Over the last decade and a half there has been a steady stream of new insights that further illuminate the dynamics of emotional intelligence. In this eBook, Daniel Goleman explains what we now know about the brain basis of emotional intelligence, in clear and simple terms.
This eBook will deepen your understanding of emotional intelligence and enhance your ability for its application. You will learn the most recent brain findings that explain:
- The Big Question being asked, particularly in academic circles: "Is there such an entity as 'emotional intelligence' that differs from IQ?"
- The brain's ethical radar
- The neural dynamics of creativity
- The brain circuitry for drive, persistence, and motivation
- The brain states underlying optimal performance, and how to enhance them
- The social brain: rapport, resonance, and interpersonal chemistry
- Brain 2.0: our brain on the web
- The varieties of empathy and key gender differences
- The dark side: sociopathy at work
- Neural lessons for coaching and enhancing emotional intelligence abilities
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #4971 in eBooks
- Published on: 2011-04-12
- Released on: 2011-04-12
- Format: Kindle eBook
- Number of items: 1
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.A Brilliant Book!
By Bruna Martinuzzi
This digital book is a must-read for anyone who wants to know what emotional intelligence truly is: Daniel Goleman will help you understand the neural basis of emotional intelligence versus IQ. While the book is an essential tool for any educators/trainers or coaches specializing in field, it is also very useful for anyone who wants to improve their emotional intelligence abilities. Business leaders, for example, will find some useful tools for employee engagement. There is even a section that will be of interest to parents.
The book consists of 15 rich chapters:
1. Is Emotional Intelligence a Distinct Set of Abilities?
2. Self-Awareness
3. The Right Brain State for the Job
4. The Creative Brain
5. Self-Mastery
6. Managing Stress
7. Motivation: What Moves Us
8. Optimal Performance
9. The Social Brain
10. The Social Brain Online
11. The Varieties of Empathy
12. Gender Differences
13. The Dark Side (sociopaths in the workplace)
14. Developing Emotional Intelligence
15. Social Emotional Learning
Using seminal studies conducted by Reuven Bar-On, Goleman helps us see that there are unique areas of the brain that govern emotional intelligence. This is explained in concise, crystal-clear language, with well-illustrated diagrams of brain areas associated with emotional intelligence. The illustrations showed up in beautiful color on my IPAD.
Among the many things you will derive from reading this book is an understanding, for example, of why bad habits are so entrenched: they form a thick circuitry and become hard wired but we can use the power of neuroplasticity (i.e. the brain continually reshapes itself according to new experiences) to form new habits that become the brain's new default option. Goleman provides tips on how to overcome bad habits and form new ones.
In the chapter on managing stress, we learn that when we are in the grip of an emotional hijack, there is intense activity in the right prefrontal cortex while when we are feeling great, "enthused, energized, like we could take on anything," it is the left prefrontal area that lights up. We all have an "emotional setpoint," a left-to-right ratio of prefrontal activity that is an accurate prediction of our typical mood range from day to day.
We find out that there are three kinds of empathy: cognitive, emotional and empathic concern and each relies on different brain circuitry -- the book gives a few pointers on how to boost our empathy abilities.
On the Social Brain Online: Goleman reminds us that "Nature designed the social brain for face-to-face interactions," not for the digital world and he outlines the implications this has for our communications. You'll learn an interesting fact about the "negativity bias to email" and the one factor that can lower a group's IQ.
In the chapter on Optimal Performance, the author clearly outlines the relationship between stress and performance and the concept of flow, what is commonly known as "being in the zone." As a leader, it is your responsibility to understand where your team is in terms of a) disengagement (bored, uninspired), b) frazzled (overwhelmed by pressure), or c) in a flow state (optimal performance), so that you can create the conditions for everyone to do their best work. This book shows you the various pathways to flow for yourself and others on your team.
For parents, Goleman explains that emotional intelligence abilities start in early years and develop over the course of one's life. You'll understand the stages of brain growth in a child and why Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs in schools give your child a head start: they provide the neural lessons they need as their brain grows. Goleman outlines research that shows that SEL programs reduce anti-social behavior and improve academic performance.
A lot of useful information is packed in this very brief e-book that you can read in one sitting. It brings in one convenient place studies done by some of the big names in the field, for example, Antonio Damasio (decision-making without emotion is neurologically impossible); Daniel Siegel (mindfulness and the brain); Barbara Frederickson(positivity), to name a few. It's a gift to have the latest brain science applicable to emotional intelligence in one small package, easily accessible to anyone.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.Fascinating and thought-provoking
By Bodhipaksa
I was delighted to hear that Goleman had a new book coming out that explored the implications of recent studies on the brain and emotional regulation.
The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights is a short work, and it's Goleman's first digital-only book. It "provides updates on the key findings that further inform our understanding of emotional intelligence and how to apply this skill set." It's aimed at those working in the emotional intelligence field, and who need to apply the concept in effective action -- leaders, coaches, human resources officers, managers, and educators -- but I believe it's also a must-read for anyone interested in the overlap of science and spirituality.
Goleman convincingly cites studies that support his contention that emotional intelligence is a phenomenon separate from IQ. As the author observes, echoing Howard Gardner, "For an intelligence to be recognized as a distance set of capacities there has to be a unique underlying set of brain areas that govern and regulate that intelligence."
Using the work of Reuven Bar-On, Goleman shows that it is in fact the case that there are distinct circuits in the brain for emotions and emotional regulation, and these are duly outlined, along with accompanying diagrams (which are unfortunately in black and white on the Kindle, due to the limitations of the platform).
In highlighting the importance of self-awareness in emotional intelligence, Goleman recounts the fascinating case of a brain-damaged lawyer whose intellect was unaffected, but who was unable to make even simple decisions. Unable to connect his thoughts with his emotions, he was rendered unable to tell good decisions from bad. "In order to make a good decision, we need to have feelings about our thoughts."
The most important decisions we make are those laden with ethical significance, and the mechanisms of these kinds of decisions are explored. One of the most extraordinary things I learned here was that some parts of the brain are unable to communicate directly with each other, and that they use nerve clusters in the gastrointestinal tract as a relay. It appears that "gut feelings" have a scientific basis. As someone who both relies on gut feelings and who teaches others their importance, this was an important validation.
I was fascinated to learn, in the chapter "Self-Mastery: The Right Brain State for the Job," about the pros and cons of various positive and negative mental states. In positive states of mind we are more creative, but may also be less discriminating. In negative moods we may be unpleasant to be around, but we also pay more attention to detail, are more able to stick with boring tasks, and are more inclined to think for ourselves.
A chapter on "The Creative Brain" discusses the neurophysiology of creativity, and gives important suggestions about how to make creative insights more likely to arise.
The chapter on "Self Mastery" explores the territory of emotional regulation, and how the amygdala, responsible for the "fight or flight" reflex can hijack the entire brain, leading to stress and panic. Goleman identifies the top five "amygdala triggers" in the workplace: Condescension and lack of respect; being treated unfairly; lack of appreciation; believing that you're not being listened to; and being held to unrealistic deadlines. Simply being aware of these is helpful, but Goleman goes on to suggest strategies and tools that make an amygdala hijack less likely. These include self-awareness, self-talk, empathy, and (naturally enough) meditation.
Goleman goes on to summarize important research on various topics such as motivation, stress (including how much stress is the right amount), how rapport emerges, why it is that online interactions can be so much more contentious than real-life encounters, gender differences in the brain regarding empathy (and here Goleman rightly stresses that the differences may be true in general, but do not apply to every individual), and sociopathy (a condition suffered by those who do not care about the effects of their actions on others). In most cases the approach is not merely theoretical. The theory is fascinating, but Goleman's drawing out of the implications for all this on our lives and for practice are, for me, the key element.
Very appropriately, for such a practical book, The Brain and Emotional Intelligence ends with chapters on "Developing Emotional Intelligence," and on how Emotional Intelligence practices are being used to reduce misbehavior in schools.
The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights is a book I'll be returning to over and over. I'd highly recommend it for anyone, and not just the businesspeople and trainers at whom it seems to be primarily aimed.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.Important New Information!
By Jacqueline R. Brodnitzki
I had the opportunity to read Daniel Goleman's terrific new book, The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights, released April 15th. Dan clearly explains the latest research on how our brains work in helping us understand and manage our emotions and relate to others effectively, aka Emotional and Social Intelligence (EI). He explains why bad moods are so contagious, why virtual messages such as e-mail can make us so angry, and how it is that leaders set the tone for their entire organization.
In this fascinating and quick read, Dan provides proven ways to increase EI in both children and adults and he explains how organizations can help their employees experience optimal performance. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand EI and how they can increase their EI competencies. I also recommend this book to anyone who works in or with organizations because he provides terrific insight into how to increase communication within and across teams to improve morale and performance.
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