Click on

to buy this book from Amazon, Lulu or Paddyfield

Lance Secretan,
Inspire ! What Great Leaders Do

A fantastic book. Lance Secretan dares to use words that have been silently banned from corporations: care, love, inspiration, truth. At this point, this may sound like fluff. But as a founder and past CEO of Manpower, Secretan knows about leading people and growing a business. He makes a case to reintegrate these words in our corporations and live by them, to ultimately grow our business. One of the most inspiring books you may find on this issue. Lance Secretan is also the author of "Reclaiming higher ground. Creating organizations that inspire the soul".

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Daniel Goleman,
Working With Emotional Intelligence

This is the business version of a very successful book, "Emotional Intelligence ". Daniel Goleman was one of the first to promote the concept of Emotional intelligence back in the 1980's. His presentation of emotional intelligence in the workplace is extremely thorough and should be inspiring for managers at all levels. This book is definitely a reference.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Robert K.Cooper,
Executive EQ - Emotional Intelligence in Leadership and Organizations

It is to me certainly one of the best books on Emotional Intelligence in Leadership. It is both deep and down-to-earth (a rare combination!), and it provides a good number of tools that can be practiced by executives. I would not necessarily recommend it as the first book to read if you need to first have a good overview of what Emotional Intelligence is and why it matters in leadership (“The New Leaders” would then probably be the best option). But I really recommend it as a precious book to go further and take action.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Cary Cherniss and Mitchel Adler,
Promoting Emotional Intelligence in Organizations

This book was written for HR professionals. It starts with a sad fact: a lot of money is wasted in trainings in corporations. And the risk is even higher with soft skills like Emotional Intelligence. Hence the need to define clear conditions for making EI-based trainings effective. This books lists 18 sequential steps. It doesn’t mean that they are all necessary, but the authors argue that when more steps are taken into account, the more chances a program will be successful. This is a quite practical and convincing book. More case studies would have made it even more powerful.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Annie McKee and Richard Boyatzis,
Resonant Leadership

The latest book by Annie McKee and Richard Boyatzis focuses on three key values that are not commonly promoted among business leaders: hope, compassion and mindfulness. Still, the authors stick to the business dimension by arguing that these values are necessary for leaders to reach top performance, and to keep the drive under the pressure that comes with success. They present extensive reports of some work they did with several high-level executives. They also provide quite many tools to be used in the middle of the action, which is a significant contribution to their previous book.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Adele B.Lynn
The EQ Difference: A Powerful Plan for Putting Emotional Intelligence to work

In this field, this is one of the books with the least amount of theory. Rather, the author efficiently sums up the concepts developed in the past 10 years, then focuses on some exercises for the reader. This is precious, as most authors do just the opposite! In that regard, this book will certainly be helpful for managers who want to learn practical tools to develop their EQ. They may just find two small limitations: a few exercises are not that convincing, and the book does not specifically address issues related to a management position. But overall, it is a solid contribution.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Tony Clark and Neil Frazer,
The Gestalt approach: A guide for managers and trainers

The Gestalt approach has not really spread in business practices. This may be because many practitioners lack business background and are too far from the issues that business leaders face. It is a real pity, considering what the Gestalt approach can bring to a lot of leaders when it comes to developing their Emotional Intelligence and improving their ability to lead teams. This is a very short book (around 40 pages!), but extremely clear. It is one of the best presentations for business people on how they can benefit from the Gestalt approach.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

余世维,
管理者情商 (Manager EQ)

(Simplified Chinese. No translation in English)

There are several reasons not to review this book: demonstrations are often weak and some parts have even little too do with Emotional Intelligence. Its main contribution is pointing at a divide between the pre- and post- Deng Xiao Ping generations. The author, who belongs to the former, argues that the latter have lower Emotional Intelligence. His demonstration is not really convincing, but what is real is the perception that he has. Some people in Chinese corporations share this perception about the “Little emperors”, and it is important to listen. 

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Patrick E.Merlevede,
7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence

There is plenty of content in this book, and plenty of tools. However, it is quite likely that readers who have no previous knowledge of Neuro-Linguistic-Programming (NLP) will be struggling quite a lot. Those who have will probably find precious learnings. In particular, the author introduces many original concepts developed by Robert Dilts, author of more than 20 books, who has actively contributed to the field of NLP since its origin. Apart from being very knowledgeable, he is also to me the best example of “NLP with a human face”: much more than a set of techniques !

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Drea Zigarmi and Ken Blanchard
The Leader within: Learning enough about yourself to lead others

The title of this book is clear about the intention of the authors. It is one contribution to the growing field of self-leadership: what work business leaders have to do on themselves to be more effective leaders. This is a quite dense book, full of ideas and concepts. You may find it a bit hard to read, as it is written in a quite academic style. Also, note that a good part of the book is based on the DISC profiling system. So it may be a bit frustrating if you are not too convinced by personality types in general.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Ken Blanchard,
The One Minute Manager

It is probably not necessary to introduce this book for too long, as it has been immensely successful. As easy to read as powerful, like most Blanchard books, it doesn't overtly cover emotional or spiritual intelligence as such. However, the "One Minute Manager", as he describes it, a manager who knows how to empower her people, proves at times to have high emotional and spiritual intelligence.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Ken Blanchard and Michael O'Connor,
Managing By Values

Just like "The One Minute Manager", this book is both short and sharp. It gives a road map for executives who want their organizations, their people and themselves to be more focused on values. The book presents three steps to put values at the heart of our organizations: clarifying them, communicating them, and aligning our daily practices with them.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Jim Despain, Ken Blanchard, Jane Bodman
...And Dignity For All. Unlocking Greatness With Values-Based Leadership

This is a truly inspiring testimony on the personal change undergone by a Vice President at Caterpillar. It wasn't just a change in his personality but also in his way of leading people, from managing by fear to leading by focusing on values. This book reads as easily as a novel. At the same time it is has tremendous impact. Managers at all levels may find some inspiration here.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Richard Barrett,
Liberating The Corporate Soul: Building Visionary Organizations

Starting from the assumption that "If you can't measure it, you can't change it", Richard Barrett has developed some unique tools to assess the extent to which a corporation is living by its values. These tools, presented in this book, can lead to the painful conclusion that the values proudly stated in a company's mission or value statement are actually to be found nowhere in the company. But this is also a call and solid basis for action. Richard Barrett is also the author of "A Guide To Liberating Your Soul".

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Richard Bowell,
The 7 Steps Of Spiritual Intelligence

This book is a little bit remote from the corporate world, as it gives few tools that a fully engaged manager can use at work. But it is also very deep and meaningful. Certainly not to be read on the subway or at the end of a working day, it gives very detailed accounts of the obstacles and challenges to be met when focusing on developing one's spiritual intelligence.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

David Caruso and Peter Salovey,
The Emotionally Intelligent Manager

A quite thorough review of all the dimensions of emotional intelligence at work by some of the pioneers of EI. After reading this book, you will certainly have a clear idea of what it means to be an emotionally intelligent manager There are many examples to draw from. You may find a bit less support on how exactly you can develop your emotional intelligence at work. However, it is still a book worth reading.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Georgeanne Lamont,
The Spirited Business: Success Stories Of Soul-Friendly Companies

This is a quite rich book that doesn't spend too much time on concepts. It focuses instead on examples of "soul-friendly companies". Cases at Bayer, Microsoft and others are presented with a good deal of enthusiasm. If you're a busy manager and are looking for some very concrete actions to take at your workplace, this book will definitely be helpful.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall,
Spiritual Intelligence

These are the first authors to develop the concept of spiritual intelligence. You may find this book a bit hard to read without some knowledge of psychology and philosophy, and it will certainly be quite a struggle to relate it to your business. However, it is one of the best resources to give you a good picture of what spiritual intelligence is, and why it matters.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Carl Gustav Jung,
Modern Man in Search Of His Soul

This book was written by a great man who was feeling his death approaching, after a life dedicated to understanding the bright and the dark sides of the human soul. It is very far from action, but it is a moving call for awareness in one's life. What if you decided that your workplace was also a place where you could look for your soul?

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Lao Zi (or Lao Tse),
Dao De Jing (or Tao Te Ching)

What is to be learned about action and business from a legendary man who is reported to have left the world, vanishing in the mountains to never come back? His call for non-action is so much at odds with the issues we face at work. And this is precisely why it is so stimulating. If you had Lao Zi as a colleague next room, what could you learn from him? One of the best versions is the one translated by D. C. Lau, a Hong Kong academic (Chinese University Press).

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Marcus Aurelius was a kind of top executive: a roman emperor, who lived around 2000 years ago. And a wise man too. This is really a moving book, by a man with huge responsibilities, who kept looking for peace deep inside him. Will you, if you read his book, imagine his smile and his eyes as he is writing alone in his palace? Will you connect to his soul? This is a small book that can be a companion at work.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Thich Nat Han,
The Blooming Of A Lotus

Thich Nat Han is a Vietnamese monk and poet, with a beautiful soul and smile. Having lived in the US and in Europe, he knows how to get his message across cultures. Although he is a monk, he knows how to talk to people who act in the world, too, having committed to stand against the war in Vietnam.   His words are as simple as deeply transforming. This book, a collection of meditation techniques, can be extremely useful to managers who want to keep centered and rooted through an intense working day.

reviewed by Sebastien Henry

Vanessa Urch Druskat, Fabio Sala and Gerald Mount,
Linking Emotional Intelligence and Performance at Work

This book was released just this year (2006) and is certainly the most comprehensive update of current research. Because the style is very academic, you should not expect to get any practical tool to develop your own emotional intelligence (EI).

Twelve different researchers or teams of researchers present their conclusions, all pointing to the critical role of Emotional Intelligence in business performance. It is just impossible to sum up so much content in 100 words, especially since each study is described with the usual academic rigor (Definitions / Method / Results / Discussion). Not an easy read, but very rich!

reviewed by Sebastien Henry