Friday, May 25, 2018

Cephalopod Coffeehouse: May 2018

Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the works they enjoyed most over the previous month.  Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.  If you wish to add your own review to the conversation, please sign on to the link list at the end of my post.

Title: Working with Emotional Intelligence
Author: Daniel Goleman
This is the second Goleman emotional intelligence book I've read.  My reflection on the first is here.  This book is targeted to the business community, though I think much of the material pertains to any workplace, including education.  The overwhelming majority of ink is spilt over proving the existence and importance of EQ, much less on how to help.  Clearly the idea is to encourage people to hire him at great cost for workshops and seminars.

Even so, I do feel better equipped to recognize problems.  Unfortunately, Goleman's description of a work environment low on emotional intelligence fits my own current situation to a T.  Even if my own job is basically satisfying - and it is - too many of my colleagues are miserable everyday.  One deals with the problem in one of two ways: by hiding or by trying to help (a confidant also pointed out to me, one can also just leave but that's just an extension of hiding).  On a given day, I probably do some of each and neither is satisfying.  Goleman's thinking does fuel some new ideas on approaches to take.  Having been in my district a while, I have gained a certain measure of trust among my colleagues and even - dare I say it? - administrators.  A few thoughtfully planted suggestions in the right ears could potentially move things in a positive direction.  Food for thought. 

As with the first book, Working with Emotional Intelligence isn't a great cover-to-cover read.  I would read a bit, think a bit, read a bit, think a bit, etc.  The material is good, though.  I don't know if I would read more Goleman after this but I'm glad to have been exposed to his work.

Please join us and share your own review of your best read from the past month.  This month's link list is below.  I'll keep it open until the end of the day.  I'll post June's tomorrow.  Meetings are the last Friday of each month.  Next gathering is June 29th.


19 comments:

  1. Maybe I'll get into this stuff some day.
    I'm interested but not enough interested.

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  2. Luckily I work from home these days - therefore don't have to put up with any emotional upheaval in the workplace but I do remember many colleagues unhappy in their work (for whatever reasons).

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    1. I do like working with people but they can be exhausting.

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  3. It’s certainly a metric to consider. Now that I’m interviewing I’m always asking about collegiality and cooperatively in these places. I hope you can put some of his info to use helping yourself and colleagues. Having just read a small mountain of practice papers and books for my masters I’m pretty burned out on the prospect of anything non-fiction. Thanks for sharing!
    V :)

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  4. Definitely something to consider now that I’m interviewing for new jobs. Hopefully can use some of these points to improve your Workplace. Having just read a small mountain of practice papers and books I’m not really going to pick up any more non-fiction for a bit but thanks for sharing.
    V :)

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    1. I think it’s an essential element to consider in evaluating a work environment. Satisfaction with the substance of work is difficult to achieve if you’re miserable all day.

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  5. It would be great to see what others share and read what they are reading right now. No workplace here. Retirement means I can do all the stuff I couldn't do when I was teaching.

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  6. The manager at my job has a serious lack of emotional intelligence. It's such a problem that we're about to have an uprising against him.

    Love,
    Janie

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  7. Interesting I think workplaces all over have the same problems. Work, stay or leave but then what do you have the same problems different walls. I am not sure if work is hard as much as people are today.

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. The book does make clear that there are better ways and some companies have managed to do quite well along EQ lines. Even when times are tough, I refuse to believe that things can't be made better. It takes work and more than a touch of humility. But it can be done. We can reinvent ourselves.

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    2. I so agree one has to think we can make things better

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  8. This sounds like a great book and one I would enjoy reading. Glad it gave you some food for thought.
    ~Jess

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  9. I have forgotten to do my book review!!! Apologies, we have been so engrossed in the camper van conversion, and it has to be done to a time frame. Plus I thought the end of May was this Friday...
    But anyway - EQ is something that's been lacking in some of the workplaces I've experienced and I can testify to the difference it makes. It makes me sad that work is an unpleasant place for people. I have jobs now that could be stressful but the team work is so supportive it makes every challenge a positive thing. My desk is not as tidy though!

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    1. When a challenge is seen as a positive thing, you're definitely working with the right group of people!

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