This book is quite a fascinating read for anyone who is in a management or leadership position. The main focus of the book is Emotional Intelligence, hence the sub title. Daniel Goleman has previously written many books about the subject including his New York Times bestselling book of the same name.
Emotional Intelligence is best described by Goleman as “The capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others, and for managing emotions effectively in others and ourselves”.
Not to get too hung up on the title, their use of the term primal seems to mean fundamental, rather than the cave man behaviour it conjures up. In this context the fundamental behaviour of the leader is going to affect the staff, culture and ultimately the productivity of a business.
Throughout the book there is reference to resonance; basically a positive atmosphere that brings the best out in your colleagues and employees which is the result of high emotional intelligence in a leader. The opposite result is conflict based dissonance.
Six different leadership types are covered in the book, four positive; coach, visionary, affiliative and democratic and the two less favourable dissonant styles of pace setting and commanding. I won’t go into defining each style as they are fairly self-explanatory. What I will say, is that there is a time and place for each type of leadership style. A great leader displays the emotional intelligence to know how to tap into the required style for different situations.
They also explain the four domains of emotional intelligence; self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness and relationship management. Having a clear understanding of emotional intelligence and working to increase your own levels will have a significant impact on your leadership skills.
Six different leadership types are covered in the book, four positive; coach, visionary, affiliative and democratic and the two less favourable dissonant styles of pace setting and commanding. I won’t go into defining each style as they are fairly self-explanatory. What I will say, is that there is a time and place for each type of leadership style. A great leader displays the emotional intelligence to know how to tap into the required style for different situations.
They also explain the four domains of emotional intelligence; self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness and relationship management. Having a clear understanding of emotional intelligence and working to increase your own levels will have a significant impact on your leadership skills.