Overview
This book is an essential read for any Executive Leader who wants to be more successful. It focuses on the idea that modern Leaders need to be “Primal” and their role is to “prime” their team to perform. It promotes the idea that it is Emotional Intelligence and not IQ or technical expertise that creates the successful Leader.

The first section deals with the Theory of Emotional Intelligence, and then leads into the next section called “Making Leaders” which focuses on the process of change a person needs to go through to become a different Leader. Goleman refers to these as The Five Discoveries. The final section of the book focuses on creating Emotional Intelligence in Organisations and talks about the role of Executive Coaching and Action Learning.

Who Would Benefit From Reading This Book and Why?
The New Leaders will be useful if you have reached a certain level in your career but are struggling to reach the next level. You may have been promoted because you have been good at a certain job, perhaps a technical expert and now you are being asked to lead a team and to be more strategic. Also this book is useful if you are an executive coach, coaching Leaders to the next level or new Leaders coping with a bigger role.

Reviewer’s Opinion

I love this book because it is very readable and easy to relate to, in my opinion more readable that Daniel Goleman’s earlier book called “Emotional Intelligence”. It translates the theory and science behind Emotional Intelligence (EI) into practical terms, Leaders can relate to.

With the numerous examples in the book I could relate to the practical real business examples but at the same time I like the fact there is a bit of a scientific base. I found reading this book meant I could return to Daniel Golemans’ earlier work and understand Emotional Intelligence further.

I coach many Leaders and Managers who have been promoted because they are good at a job rather than being good leaders of people. Often they recognise very early on that managing people and teams is an area they find stressful and lack expertise in. Suddenly they can be floundering although previously they have been successful. I use EI as a part of my coaching toolkit with Executive Leaders and often recommend this book.

In addition to this I have used this book to inform my design of Organisational / Leadership Competency Frameworks and Leadership development interventions. I use it in my coaching (particularly the Appendices) to help Executives to self assess their EI . It is immensely powerful for Executives to be able to look at aspects of their EI rather than attend training sessions on people management processes.

Reviewer
Denise Fletcher (Executive Coach)

See Also:-

Emotional Intelligence Pocket Book
Working With Emotional Intelligence
Free Emotional Intelligence Articles
Personal Development Books

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