Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman: A Review

As we come to the end of March 2020, I also, have come to the end of my book for the month:- Emotional Intelligence: Why it matters more than IQ, by Daniel Goleman. As such, I would like to give you all a brief review of this title.

First of all it must be said, that at the time of this book's publishing (1995/'96), it was a New York Times Bestseller. So there's that; and like one of the endorsements on the back of the book says "It is impressive in its scope and depth..."

Impressive in its scope and depth, staggering in its implications, emotional intelligence gives us an entirely new way of looking at the root causes of many of the ills of our families and our society
– Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.

At 330 pages, and 16 chapters, not including Appendices, the volume covers everything from What Emotions are, and What They are For, to How to Acquire and Apply Emotional Intelligence, with specific examples and advice for some of the Primary Emotions like Anger, Sadness, Joy, and Fear.

The book is so densely packed with information, that less than halfway through my reading of it, I began to worry about whether I would retain any of the information I had read! Somehow, reading this book felt more like studying than carefree learning.

That said, the book is definitely a comprehensive tome of a lot of if not all of the knowledge on the subject (as at the time it was published). So despite my qualms about the sheer amount of knowledge it tries to impart,  I have to say that while I may question my own ability to remember, there is no question that the author did his best to cover all facets of the topic - including making his own recommendations for what we can do as individuals, and as a society, to foster emotional intelligence in ourselves.

It all makes me wonder if, had the author's recommendations around teaching Emotional Intelligence in Schools been taken up, they might have acted as a safeguard against the last few years of school shootings in the United States. That's just an example of the extent to which the subject could impact our lives.