Fulfillment doesn’t come from isolated peak experiences, but rather from many consistent good days. So how do we sustain performance, while avoiding burnout and maintaining balance? Daniel Goleman is a Harvard-trained psychologist and author of the bestselling book Emotional Intelligence, which transformed how we think about success and leadership. He has worked with organizations around the world, studying how social and emotional competencies impact the bottom-line. In his latest book, Optimal, Daniel reveals how emotional intelligence can help us have a great day, any day. On this episode, we talk about why EI matters, how to develop it in ourselves and others, and practical methods for applying the skill set more readily. We also dig into new research on EI and what it means for us, our teams, and our organizations.

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Show Notes

• The four components of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, empathy, relationship management (1:35)
• How emotional intelligence became part of the DNA of our organizations (6:42)
• Why IQ isn’t a strong predictor of success (7:40)
• What’s changed in how we think about emotional intelligence? (8:48)
• Does less face-to-face interaction hinder the development of emotional intelligence? (9:33)
• Peak performance isn’t about flow (11:45)
• Focus is the pathway into optimal performance (12:57)
• How to beat burnout by scheduling recovery into your day (13:18)
• The definition of optimal (15:59)
• A simple exercise to practice focus (18:38)
• The keys to sustained high performance over time (20:29)
• How can you measure your own emotional intelligence? (22:00)
• How to develop emotional intelligence in others (24:35)
• Tactics to shift from burnout to resilience (28:58)
• The most surprising findings in his research (31:15)
• The Daniel Goleman online emotional intelligence course (33:01)
• Why you shouldn’t try to evaluate EI when hiring but should instead focus on developing it (33:28)
• Best practices to engrain emotional intelligence into an organization’s culture (36:42)

Resources / People Mentioned

• Optimal by Daniel Goleman
• Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
• Daniel Goleman Emotional Intelligence Courses
• Peter Salovey
• Emotional and Social Competence Inventory
• Kurt Vonnegut, writer
• Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
• Box breathing
• Ten Percent Happier Podcast
• Dalai Lama

Recommended For You

Did you enjoy this episode? Then listen to:

• Robert Cialdini on The 7 Principles of Influence
• Dandapani on How to Improve Your Focus
• Patrick Lencioni on The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team

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