BOOK REVIEW

This book outlines a prescription for effective management and leadership, it is based on integral role of intelligent use of emotions and its impact on thinking, decision making, being motivated and behaving. Emotional intelligence refers to a person’s capacity to effectively reason about emotions and to use emotions to enhance thoughts and solve problems. We are taught that emotions shouldn’t be felt and should be expressed carefully and only in certain environment and certain time, although an emotionally intelligent manager replaces the convectional view of emotions with an intelligent view, they combine passion with logic and emotions with intelligence.

The fundamental emotional skills of an emotionally intelligent manger are;

Identifying emotions: we have to read people, by becoming aware of emotions and expressing them accurately in order to communicate effectively.
Using emotions: emotions influence our thinking and we should match emotions to the tasks.
Understanding emotions; emotions are not random events there are underlying causes, we should predict the emotion future and find out what emotions mean.
Managing emotions: this requires us to stay open to emotions and integrate emotions into thinking.
Emotionally intelligence people are not necessary great managers and not all great mangers are emotionally intelligent, effective management is therefore essential. Emotions do matter at all times and to ignore it is to deny the wisdom of our emotions and those of others. Integration of rational and emotional style is key to making good decisions because emotions are always at work and they work with and for us.
Managers may build effective teams, plan and decide effectively, motivate people, communicate a vision, promote change and create effective interpersonal relationship as they affect and influence people.
The major principles of emotional intelligence includes:
Emotions is information: it contains data about you and the world, it an events that interfere with thinking and helps motive and guide success. We must be able to differentiate between experience of an emotion and influence of being in a certain mood.
We try to ignore emotions but it doesn’t work: emotions will always influence performance in all areas of our lives.
We can try to hide emotions but we are not as good at it as we think: your emotions will be read by some of the people, most of the time.
Decisions must incorporate emotions to be effective: emotions has impact on our decisions, on us and others whether we want them or not.
Emotions follow a logical pattern: emotions are not random occurring events, each emotions has its own move.
Emotions universal exist but so do specifics: customs and culture do vary but in case of emotions it can be universally recognized and there are emotional specific which have to do with display rules, secondary emotions and gender.

Emotional blueprint offers an approach to emotions that is intelligent, it does not threaten the importance of logic or reason, an emotionally intelligent manager has to describe the situation, identify the emotion, use the emotions, predict emotional future, understand the emotions and manage the emotions so as to motivate and inspire them. Emotional skills can be measured in an objective way through the use of performance or knowledge test.

“Emotion system is an intelligent system, that’s why it evolved in animals including human, our emotions points us in the right direction and motivate us to do what needs to be done.”