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EGO VS. EQ: HOW TOP LEADERS BEAT 8 EGO TRAPS WITH EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE By Jen Shirkani Brookline, MA: Bibliomotion (2013) Hard Cover, 185 pages
Much has been written on the topic of emotional quotient (EQ) and how crucial the development of EQ is for leaders. Other researchers have explored how the ego affects the leader and can serve as either a benefit or detriment. Shirkani expands both avenues of thinking by exploring how EQ and ego balance each other and by explaining how emotional intelligence can be used as a tool to avoid career derailment that can result from an uncontrolled ego. according to Shirkani, the leadership disappointment and failure rate is high, with two out of five cEOs failing to succeed in their first year and a half on the job. Shirkani explains the most common reasons for ineffectiveness in leadership by examining ego and providing tools and strategies that can help leaders raise their EQ, prevent leadership breaches, and thus avoid a downward spiral of consequences.
Shirkani fulfills her stated purpose of exploring the relationship between ego and EQ by providing many relevant examples that illuminate this relationship. Shirkani's well-written book offers many reader-friendly strategies that include bullet-point lists or key points, tables such as "You Know You've Fallen Into Ego trap 7 If:" (p. 118), and short summaries at the end of each chapter, which she calls "In a Nutshell." also at the end of each chapter, Shirkani provides an implementation plan for "applying the three Rs" (Recognize, Read, and Respond), facilitating readers' self-evaluation and application.
Drawing on real-life narratives from Shirkani's two decades of coaching, Ego vs. EQ includes stories and case studies of leadership successes and failures through the lens of ego and emotional quotient. Shirkani defines ego as that part of a person that is concerned with the self to the exclusion of others. While EQ (Emotional Quotient) is not specifically defined by Shirkani, she does quote...