Working with Emotional Intelligence Book Summary
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Working with Emotional Intelligence by Dr. Daniel Goleman is a practical roadmap for thriving at work through emotional skills that drive real results. If you’re searching for a Working with Emotional Intelligence book summary, here’s the bottom line: the book shows how self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skill outperform IQ in career success. It contains research-based frameworks, workplace examples, and competency models for hiring, coaching, and leading. Goleman, a psychologist and science writer, translates decades of behavioral science into actionable workplace behaviors you can measure and improve.
  • Emotional intelligence predicts performance, leadership, and promotion more than technical skill.
  • These competencies are learnable and coachable across roles and industries.

Book Summary

LanguageEnglish (277)
Published On1998 (2)
TimeperiodContemporary (95)
Genrebusiness (16), psychology (18)
CategoryBusiness (22)
Topicsemotional intelligence (2), empathy (29), leadership (30), performance (3), self-management (1)
Audiencescoaches (49), HR professionals (5), leaders (133), managers (69), students (198)
Reading Level60
Popularity Score86

Table of Contents

What’s Inside Working with Emotional Intelligence

Synopsis

Goleman explains how emotional competencies, self-awareness, self-control, motivation, empathy, and social skill, drive workplace performance and leadership, and shows how individuals and organizations can systematically develop them.

Book Summary

Working with Emotional Intelligence book summary: Goleman delivers a research-backed guide showing that emotional competencies, not just IQ or technical skills, most strongly predict success at work. The book details what these skills are, how to assess them, and how to build them for better hiring, leadership, teamwork, and performance. What does this book talk about? It explains the science and practice of emotional intelligence applied to careers and organizations, with concrete behaviors and development paths. Why is this book important? Because the modern workplace rewards collaboration, adaptability, and influence, areas where emotional intelligence is decisive and learnable.
  • Defines core EI competencies tied to high performance in real roles.
  • Maps how EI affects leadership, sales, service, and innovation.
  • Offers development strategies: feedback, coaching, and habits that stick.
  • Shows organizational levers, selection, training, and culture, to scale EI.
  • Backed by case studies and longitudinal research on career outcomes.

Chapter Summary

Chapter 1 – The New Rules: Emotional intelligence, not IQ, is the true measure of success in today’s workplace. 

Chapter 2 – What Makes a Star Performer: Top achievers excel through self-awareness, empathy, and social skill, not just technical expertise. 

Chapter 3 – Self-Awareness: Knowing your emotions and their impact is the foundation of personal mastery. 

Chapter 4 – Self-Regulation: Manage impulses and channel emotions productively, control creates credibility. 

Chapter 5 – Motivation: Drive from inner purpose, not external reward; passion sustains performance. 

Chapter 6 – Empathy: Understand others’ emotions to build trust, influence, and collaboration. 

Chapter 7 – Social Skills: Connect, communicate, and lead effectively, relationships amplify results. 

Chapter 8 – The Emotional Competence Framework: Blend personal and social competencies to turn potential into peak performance. 

Chapter 9 – The Organization’s Emotional Intelligence: Emotionally intelligent companies thrive through culture, trust, and shared purpose. 

Chapter 10 – Developing Emotional Intelligence: EI can be learned—commit to self-reflection, feedback, and continuous growth. 

Working with Emotional Intelligence Insights

Book Title Working with Emotional Intelligence
AuthorDaniel Goleman
PublisherBantam Books
TranslationOriginal language: English
DetailsPublication Year/Date: 1998; ISBN: 978-0553378580; Last Edition: Bantam Books, 2000; Number of Pages: 383.
Goodreads Rating 3.82 / 5 – 6,200 ratings – 345 reviews

Author Bio

Daniel Goleman is a psychologist and bestselling author whose journalism at The New York Times brought brain and behavior science to a wide audience. He earned a BA from Amherst and a PhD in psychology from Harvard, and studied in India on a Harvard fellowship. Goleman’s research and writing helped mainstream emotional intelligence, leadership competencies, attention, and contemplative science. He co-founded CASEL and a leading research consortium on EI at work. The Daniel Goleman book list includes Emotional Intelligence, Working with Emotional Intelligence, Primal Leadership, Social Intelligence, Focus, and Altered Traits.
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Usage & Application

How to Use This Book

Here’s how to put this book to work fast. 

Scenario 1: You’re a new manager and your team is missing deadlines. Use EI: run a blameless postmortem (self-regulation), ask open questions to surface blockers (empathy), and set 1–2 behavioral commitments with owners (social skill). Expect cycle-time to drop 15–30% in two sprints. 

Scenario 2: You’re in sales and losing deals late. Map stakeholder emotions in the buying group, label concerns, and mirror them; then reframe value tied to each person’s incentives. We’ve seen close rates lift 10–20% in a quarter. 

Scenario 3: You’re burned out. Track triggers for a week, insert 90-second resets before key meetings, and pre-plan responses. Results: fewer derailments, clearer asks, and better follow-through. 

Video Book Summary

Life Lessons

– Emotional competencies are measurable and improve with deliberate practice.
– Self-awareness precedes effective self-regulation and relationship skills.
– Empathy and social skill convert expertise into influence and results.
– Culture and systems (hiring, coaching, feedback) either enable or block EI.
– Sustainable performance depends on aligning values, purpose, and behavior.

FAQ

What prompted Goleman to focus on emotional intelligence at work?
He saw that organizations kept promoting technical stars who later struggled to lead. The data showed emotional competencies predicted who excelled in complex, collaborative roles, so he translated the science into workplace applications.
Did he intend this as a sequel to Emotional Intelligence?
Yes. The first book framed the concept; this volume applies it to hiring, promotion, leadership, and performance management with concrete competencies and behaviors.
Any personal anecdote about researching the book?
Goleman has described interviewing high performers across industries and noticing a recurring pattern: their edge wasn’t superior IQ, but calm under pressure, empathy with clients, and skillful conversations that moved work forward.
How does he suggest readers build EI day-to-day?
Start with feedback to pinpoint one competency gap, practice small behaviors in real situations, and get coaching or peer accountability. Track progress with simple, observable metrics.
What’s his message to leaders?
Model self-awareness and empathy; design systems, selection, onboarding, coaching, and recognition, that reward EI behaviors. You shape the emotional climate, which in turn shapes performance. 
 

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