This is a great book. Thank you so much for the ideas here. The prose is well written and organized.

Personally I hate the nomenclature of "soft skills," as if these skills are somehow weaker or less serious than technical skills. The truth is that it takes a variety of skills and qualities to make an effective leader or colleague, and these are essential to the success of any endeavor, as anyone who's suffered through bad leadership or a toxic environment knows well.

This book is actually a wonderful bridge, though. It seamlessly leads a person who might have been oblivious to people skills on a journey to competence in interpersonal communication and leadership. It is logical and practical, answering the resistance and frustration that usually arises when these topics come up. Buy it for your floundering boss and lousy coworkers ASAP, and get yourself a copy too--we can all use a little more emotional intelligence.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a key area of personal development and overall workplace capability. Since Daniel Goleman wrote his book Emotional Intelligence, where he demonstrated that biology and bio-chemistry play an enormous part in our reactions to situations and our ability to espouse the characteristics of leadership, EI has gradually developed to the mainstream position it has in business and personal development. Prior to the term Emotional Intelligence, we often referred to the underlying intrapersonal and interpersonal skills as Soft Skills - a term Anne Taylor returns to in the title of her book.

With the number of personal development and business books I've read, it becomes very difficult to read a book without a significant amount of the material being repeated from previous books. This book is no exception but what it does try to achieve is the direct correlation between EI, leadership and business metrics, particularly the bottom-line, although top-line figures can also be affected by strong EI capability.

I am always fascinated in the neuroscience involved with a discussion around emotional intelligence because I then know it is rooted in science. The impact of hormones and chemicals released into the body at times of need or stress helps explain a lot to an analytical person like me. The body's response to hormones and chemicals such as Adrenalin, Cortisol, Dopamine and Oxytocin could be covered a bit better but then another reader may wish to have this section removed.

We can consider four main areas of emotions intelligence which is often illustrated in a four-quadrant grid where one axis is Self and Other while the other axis is Knowing and Doing. This consideration enables us to address the understanding and actions of emotions with regards ourselves or others. Various 2 x 2 models are used throughout the book including the Johari Window useful for self-awareness and understanding relationships. Anne Taylor's books is also structured in four parts as - Inside, Outside, Between and Beyond. There are also ten principles discussed, each with its own chapter and each chapter with a concluding challenge to encourage additional practice.

What I really liked was the detail provided and in one example the reader is requested to email a group but they are provided with a sample email with the wording she feels important and why that format is important. Coaching is an important role and as vividly as possible, Anne Taylor creates a workshop feel to the material where she discusses motivations, worries, styles, language, courage and achieving balance.

The material in this book comes from an experienced business leader with considerable knowledge and evidence in coaching and mentoring business executives. It feels like a trusted insight into the area of emotional intelligence and its correlation to results and hard business metrics. I would recommend reading this book and I would like to thank Practical Inspiration Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy in return for an honest review.

Good book on emotional intelligence. It proves that people leave and managers and not bad companies. This is one of the key and well known findings. How can managers who are very good at business become emotionally empowered leaders? The question sounds easier than the answer. Some good advice can be found in this book.