Customer Reviews

The Other Kind of Smart: Simple Ways to Boost Your Emotional Intelligence for Greater Personal Effectiveness and Success

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This is a quintessential self development book. EQ (emotional intelligence) determines success more than IQ. And the hopeful part of this is EQ can be increased through a series of techniques - most of whaich are easy to do and covered in this book.

I loved the book because:

1 - It was packed with lots of quotes which I love. Like "The first rule is you must not fool yourself and you are the easiet to fool" Richard Feynman

2 - It had a series of action steps that could be taken to help in the various areas of EQ. The areas he touched on were things like emotional control, flexibility, stress management and optimism. For example, the section on controlling stress included learn meditation, go for walks in nature, go to a funny play or movie. Obvious and simple stuff that we need to be reminded of.

3 - It covers most of the important areas of self development and gives practical suggestions for each area. This is a classic self development book and I like self development books.

4 - There is an underlying optimism in the book that we can all change. We choose to be who we are.

5 - It reinforced what I already know about setting goals.

6 - I liked the section on celebrating wins. Keep a book of accomplishments.

So it sounds like mostly a repeat of the basics and it is. But it is a good repeat.

It is well written, simple, easy to understand, fast to read and just about right on in most of its suggestions and ideas.

Do you need or want improvement in all aspect of your life, professional, business and personal? Then this book is a "Must Read" book. There are so many things to like about this book. It brings the theoretical concepts of Emotional Intelligence (EI)to life and makes them very real. What I found most valuable about this book is that it goes beyond just theory. It shows how EI is applied in the real world by the interesting stories of everyday people in their professional and personal lives. There are many inspiring great quotes throughout the book that strengthen the message. I found the simple every day exercises at the end of each chapter have helped me to be more effective in my business and personal relationships. If you would like to evaluate your own EI, there is a fun and easy to do test at the end of the book. I highly recommend this book for all my clients to use for themselves and their staff.

Well written, interesting, attention-holding, and highly beneficial. This book delivers content that every person, every family, and certainly every business owner or manager needs to know. I am grateful for the tremendous insight and perspective it has given me to improve and advance myself, my relationships, and my clients.

This book really brings emotional intelligence to life! The stories in it, about people we can all relate to,illustrate how emotional intelligence plays out in our every day lives. The quotes throughout the book add spice and inspiration. Most usefull were the simple, easy to use ways to increase our EI as we go about our routines in daily life. There is also a short quiz at the back of the book that lets us check out our own emotional intelligence. It is the kind of book on this topic that has needed for a long time.

Throughout "The Other Kind of Smart," author Harvey Deutschendorf skillfully balances the need-to-know fundamentals of emotional intelligence and why it's essential and relevant within our personal and business relationships, with down-to-Earth guidance on how to achieve it. Poignant stories and examples of those who've moved from a place of lacking EI to a place of emotional richness have the power to inspire and enlighten any reader to self-assess and take control of his/her emotional intelligence quotient. And the best news is that anyone can! Deutschendorf's refreshing logic and excellent conveyance puts it all into perspective. I recommend "The Other Kind of Smart" for anyone who plans to become an adult! Lucky are the children whose parents have read it, as the sooner emotional intelligence is instilled the sooner we begin to experience authentic joy and confidence in ourselves and in the world in which we live. Nice job, Mr. Deutschendorf!

I've been a devoted follower of EI research since the mid nineties. I've used many of the concepts, frameworks, and findings in my books [The Leader's Digest: Timeless Principles for Team and Organization Success, Growing the Distance: Timeless Principles for Personal, Career, and Family Success, and Growing @ the Speed of Change: Your Inspir-actional How-To Guide For Leading Yourself and Others through Constant Change] and workshops. I finally received a published copy of Harvey's great new book. As Harvey was writing this book a few years ago he sent me an outline and sample chapter and asked for a "cover quote" endorsement. It looked very strong so I gladly gave him one.

Now that I have the finished book, I wish I could rewrite that quote into something much more enthusiastic. This book is outstanding. I've read dozens of books on the important and evolving new field of Emotional Intelligence (EI). The Other Kind of Smart is well (smartly) written in a conversational style that's extremely easy to read. It's also laid out in an easy to browse style. It's full of contemporary and classical quotations and comments on elements of EI. And best of all; it's filled with how-to, practical techniques to help readers boost fifteen key EI skills such as self-awareness, healthy relationships, stress tolerance, impulse control, optimism, and social responsibility.

As Harvey writes, "Success is not a quantum leap. It is the accumulation of small changes resulting from perseverance, self-discipline, and learning to get the most from your emotional intelligence...unlike cognitive function, your emotional capabilities are flexible, adaptable, and highly expandable."

A comprehensive and easy-to-read guide to emotional intelligence, with useful resources and real-life examples. A great workplace resource to add to any workplace library. Michael Kerr, author of Inspiring Workplaces

Matter of factly, I forgot the content nearly as soon as I put it down. Luckily I had highlighted a few good passages that I can tell you it's good, but not particularly outstanding or insightful from the sea of its competitors on Amazon. If you have read three or more books about EQ before, I suggest you to give this a pass. Otherwise....

p.s. Below please find some of my favorite passages for your reference.

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easier person to fool. - Richard Feynman pg35
Everyone thinks of changing the world and no one thinks of changing himself. - Leo Tolstoy pg38
The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others. - Hasidic Saying pg49
Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power. - Seneca pg52
Techniques for actualization: 1. Think of things that are most important in your life. 2. Create goals amongst the top three most important things in your life. 3. Mark into your day timer, 5 minutes to do nothing but think about your goals. 4. Listen to motivational tapes at every opportunity 5. Ask someone close to you to remind you periodically of your goals and provide you feedback 6. Never share your goal with someone who is not or may not be supportive pg63
There are four basic rules about feelings: 1. Feelings are neither good nor bad, they just are. 2. We are all entitled to our feelings. 3. We have no right to judge other people's feelings 4. We all have a strong need to have our feelings acknowledged. Pg82
Friendship is a living thing that lasts only as long as it is nourished with kindness, empathy, and understanding. Pg82
Love thy neighbor as thyself, but choose thy neighborhood. - Louise Beal pg87
Ask people about themselves. When talking to others, pay attention to the amount of time you talk and the amount of time you listen. Pg96
If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living. - Gail Sheeny pg125
Rule number one is, don't sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it's all small stuff. - Dr Robert Eliot, Cardiologist pg139
If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but your estimate of it, and this you have the power to revoke any moment. - Marcus Aurelius Antonius pg143

The Other Kind of Smart is practical and easy to read. The book provides hope that anyone can change, and the recipe for doing so. Harvey Deutschendorf takes readers on a journey into themselves and their relationship to the outside world. He provides indicators that reveal where readers most need to improve their emotional intelligence. And, each chapter contains practical activities anyone can do to raise their ability to manage emotions. I especially like the stories that accompany each point. Stories reach through defense mechanisms to reveal personal truths. Improving emotional intelligence is the first step to improving every area in our lives.

A month or so ago, I did a survey within the congregation to assess my leadership strengths and weaknesses. The survey came from "Why We Are Bad at Picking Good Leaders" which was an excellent book. In the survey, the results indicated vision and passion as strengths, but EI and empathy were the weak areas. So I outlined a plan to work on those areas. One of the items was to read a book about emotional intelligence. This was the book that I picked. I was familiar with the area after reading Daniel Goldmen's books on the topic, so I was looking for a practical book to provide some refreshment and some skill sets. This was a good book for this purpose. Sometimes it was too basic, but it did give some specific suggestions on how to increase the various areas that fall into this discipline. I was looking for a refresher, and this book did the job. It highlighted the basic components of this areas. If someone is looking for a overview of this area, or just exploring EI, this is an good book, but if you are looking for deeper understanding, this book misses the mark. At the end of each chapter, there is a story of how this certain quality of EI worked out in a person's life. Sometimes these stories get a little old, but they are somewhat interesting. This book will not shake your world, but it will improve it.