Sample by My Essay Writer
1. Record your initial impressions. Based on the title and headings, what do you expect from this article? What is it about?
I can see that because this piece is from the Harvard Business Review, it will likely be a very intelligent look at what it takes to be a leader. The side message talks about the separation between IQ and technical skills, and emotional intelligence. This tells me that the piece is likely going to justify why emotional intelligence is so important in leadership. I suspect that because this piece is from Harvard, it will take a very structured approach at addressing the topic. The writing will be good, but it will likely be overly academic, with a lack of imagery. However, the flow of the writing will likely be extremely logical. The subheadings indicate that the author breaks down the topic into each aspect of emotional intelligence and then he will come to a conclusion that sums up his theory.
3. Write one question for each section of the article (8).
1. Introduction: In what way does the Goleman think effective leaders are alike?
2. Evaluating Emotional Intelligence: What is Goleman’s objective in his work?
3. Self-Awareness: What does self-awareness help a person understand?
4. Can Emotional Intelligence Be Learned: How can organizations enhance emotional intelligence?
5. Self-Regulation: How might an executive with self-regulation respond to his team’s poor performance during a presentation?
6. Motivation: What is the first sign of a leader?
7. Empathy: What does empathy mean in the business environment?
8. Social Skill: What assumption do people with social skills have?
6. On the text, identify Goleman’s main argument and his supporting evidence.
Goleman’s main argument is that in order to be a successful leader, one must have emotional intelligence. He supports this idea by breaking down the various components of emotional intelligence and justifying its application by giving leadership scenarios.
In evaluating each piece of support independently, what kind of support is this?
The type of support that Goleman typically gives is examples of how a leader with emotional intelligence will apply that intelligence.
How is the support used? Why or why not?
The support is used to place an idea in the mind of the reader about the comparison between a leader that doesn’t have emotional intelligence and one that does. Goleman does this because it leads the reader to draw a connection in favor of his argument.
How does the evidence affect your understanding of Goleman’s main argument?
I tend to agree with him more. However, he paints an overly grim picture for those who don’t have emotional intelligence and I think this is to sway the reader more.
7. What connections can you make between the ideas presented by Goleman and other texts read or concepts discussed in class?
Other texts took a similar strategy at trying to convince the reader to support their argument. Many texts give hypothetical, and sometimes real, examples of how their theories would be applied.
How does Goleman’s article help you expand your thinking?
I’ve always believed in the importance of emotional intelligence, but it helped me put into perspective the thinking of former bosses that I’ve had.
Having gone through the process of recording your expectations of the article, how have your expectations changed?
While the content was pretty much exactly as I expected, I didn’t expect there to be so many interesting examples. And I didn’t expect that I could be as convinced as I am that emotional intelligence is vital to being a good leader.
