Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves (the book can be found here)

Social awareness is centered on your ability to recognize and understand the emotions of others. Here you need to act like an anthropologist as you observe people in all kinds of situations. You need to pick up on things like body language, facial expressions, posture, and tone of voice. You need to stay in the present and give others your full attention. You will also use the vast amount of information coming from your own emotions. Sample strategies include: greeting people by name, planning ahead for social gatherings, looking for EQ in movies you watch, living in the moment, practicing the art of listening, go people watching, seeing the whole picture, and catching the mood in the room.

All relationships take work. They take time, effort, and know-how. The know-how is your EQ. Here you tap the other three skills. If you know and can manage yourself and know others you should be able to manage your relationships. Relationships are essential and they are an essential and fulfilling part of life. Sample strategies include: being open and curious, avoiding mixed signals, building trust, only getting mad on purpose, acknowledging the other person’s feelings, showing that you care, explaining your decisions, giving constructive feedback, and tackling tough conversations.

Longitudinal data shows that since the first book in this series was published EQ has gone steadily up. It’s also important to note that your EQ is likely to increase if you are surrounded by people making the same effort. Ideally, the people you work with are also reading this book and actively trying to improve. The authors also note that during recessions, our composite EQ takes a dip so beware of hard times. Studies of gender differences show that men are better at self-management while women are better at social awareness and relationship management. Supervisors closest to the workforce do better than workers and bosses at the top. EQ also increases with age, which again shows that it can be learned. A study with Chinese workers shows that they have higher EQs than Americans. Finally, EQ appears to be something that you need to continuously pay attention to as it can slip in times of increased stress.

Drs. Travis (@talentsmarteq) and Jean are award-winning authors and the cofounders of TalentSmart, a global think tank and consultancy that serves more than 75% of Fortun 500 companies and the world’s leading provider of emotional intelligence tests and training. Their bestselling books have been translated into 26 languages, and are sold in more than 150 countries. They have written for or been covered by Newsweek, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Harvard Business Review.