Emotional Intelligence, Resilience and Leadership Blog

Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence

Primal leadership frees the best in people.

Daniel Goleman in his book, Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence, Harvard Business School Press, 2002, on p ix, asserts that, “The fundamental task of leaders, we argue, is to prime good feeling in those they lead. That occurs when a leader creates resonance – a reservoir of positivity that frees the best in people. At its root, then, the primal job of leadership is emotional.”

That sounds quite a bit different than the usual emphasis on being rational, doesn’t it? Well, has the emphasis on being rational really worked? Does it do what Goleman claims, “frees the best in people?” Do you want to add that ability to your repertoire?

More specifically, what would your payoff be? Goleman says that emotionally intelligent leadership can “inspire, arouse passion and enthusiasm, and keep people motivated and committed.” If you need more of that, it might be worth your effort to get Goleman’s book or at least keep on reading our Leadership Tips.

I shall help you learn how to, in Goleman’s words, “generate the emotional resonance that lets people flourish.” I see that as a good definition of effective leadership - creating an environment in which people flourish. There may be many ways to do that. However, Goleman is pointing to one way that most leaders need to do better. We need to be more aware of our feelings and those of others so that we can create emotional resonance and minimize dissonance. This helps create an environment in which people flourish.

If you want to speed up your learning, please check out our Group Executive Coaching Program by experiencing a Complimentary Session. Please go here to sign up: http://www.EmotionallyIntelligentLeadership.com/index.htm#bottom

One comment for this post.

  1. Pingback from primal leadership:

    [...] [...]

    July 3rd, 2008

Leave a Comment