Here are some of my favorite books on emotional intelligence, communication and conflict resolution:
Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry, Jean Greaves: Once you’ve learned a bit about emotional intelligence and why it’s important, you may want to take a look at this book that’s focused more on ways to use EQ to improve your life. Has EQ on-line appraisal in back of book.
Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman: Touching on psychology and neuroscience, Dr. Goleman, an expert on brain and behavioral sciences, explains the crucial skills for success offered by emotional intelligence that can determine your success in relationships and work and may impact your overall health.
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High. Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler. “This book deserves to take its place as one of the key thought leadership contributions of our time.”—from the Foreword by Stephen R. Covey
Getting to Yes: How to Negotiate Agreement Without Giving In, Fisher, Ury and Patton (Bestseller)
The Third Side: Why We Fight and How We Can Stop, William Ury
Go Suck a Lemon: Strategies for Improving Your Emotional Intelligence by Michael Cornwall: Dr. Cornwall’s focuses on aspects of emotional intelligence like controlling emotions, being open-minded, breaking out of emotional co-dependence, and thinking before acting.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni
Death by Meeting, Patrick Lencioni Excellent resource for finding out what is wrong with your meeting and giving you an action plan to make them engaging enough that no one will want to ever miss one of yours.
Building Emotional Intelligence: Techniques to Cultivate Inner Strength in Children by Linda Lantieri and Daniel Goleman: While this book is focused on building emotional intelligence in children, much of the information can be a big help to adults who want an EQ boost as well. From handling stress to dealing with disappointment, Lantieri and Goleman’s advice will serve anyone who wants to be in better control of their emotions and mental well-being.
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Compassion, Marshall Rosenberg One of the best resources for understanding how needs impact feelings and how to communicate in more effective ways.
The New Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz (2001): Since it was published in 1960, this self-help book has sold more than 30 million copies, helping everyone from athletes to CEOs better meet their potential. So what can it teach you about emotional intelligence? Maltz’s theory of psycho-cybernetics is all about controlling your thoughts and emotions and turning those that are negative into positives, eventually reprogramming your mind.
The EQ Edge: Emotional Intelligence and Your Success by Steven Stein and Howard Book: Do you know what it really takes to get ahead in your career and in your life? While being smart and having great ideas is half the battle, emotional intelligence also plays a powerful role.
The EQ Difference: A Powerful Plan for Putting Emotional Intelligence to Work by Adele B. Lynn: One place emotional intelligence can have a big impact is at work, and in this book, readers will learn how to leverage the lessons they learn about EQ to find more success in their careers.
The Language of Emotional Intelligence: The Five Essential Tools for Building Powerful and Effective Relationships by Jeanne Segal
The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves: Similar in scope to their Emotional Intelligence 2.0, this book boils down the information into easy-to-follow nuggets and applies lessons that you can start implementing right away.
Sitting in the Fire: Large Group Transformation Using Conflict and Diversity, Dr. Arnold Mindell. This is a book by one of my main teachers, Dr. Arnold Mindell.
Befriending Conflict: How to make conflict safer, more productive and more fun, Dr. Joe Goodbread An excellent book on rank and power. How to turn everyday conflicts into opportunities for growth and better communication.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey: Stephen Covey’s classic book isn’t focused on emotional intelligence the way others on this list are, but it is an invaluable resource nonetheless. As it turns out, many of the seven habits Covey describes all require an awareness and control of emotional intelligence