Primal Leadership: Realizing the power of Emotional Intelligence.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: Bookshelf

By Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee. Harvard Business School Press, 306 pages. $26.95.

Any business book that includes a diagram of the brain and talks about the "neuroanatomy of leadership" is more than a little unusual, and Primal Leadership is plenty challenging. In essence, it argues that effective leadership is best realized by people in contact with, and in control of, their emotions.

Daniel Goleman, noted for his breakthrough best-seller, Emotional Intelligence, teams here with two researchers in the El area. Using a series of lengthy examples involving individuals (identified only by a first name) and their situations, the book explores the welter of issues that surround interpersonal interactions and how effectively corporate directives are carried out. A fundamental tenet in Primal Leadership...