10% Happier with Dan Harris

The Science of Optimal Performance—at Work and Beyond | Daniel Goleman

Jan 22, 2024

The godfather of Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, explores optimal performance and emotional intelligence. Topics include training the mind, reducing burnout, empathy at work, giving feedback, the 4 parts of emotional intelligence, a productivity hack, and the future of EI in a world of AI.

01:07:53

Creator website

Episode guests

Daniel Goleman

AI Summary

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Emotional intelligence is crucial for achieving optimal performance and involves self-awareness, managing emotions, empathy, and social skills.

Investing in emotional intelligence training can improve leadership, teamwork, and overall performance in organizations.

Compassion and self-care are essential for preventing burnout and making empathy sustainable in work and personal life.

Deep dives

Understanding Optimal Performance

Optimal performance is about performing at your best and feeling satisfied with your day's accomplishments. It involves keeping your energy levels high, staying focused and productive, and playing well with others. Emotional intelligence plays a crucial role in achieving optimal performance. It consists of self-awareness, managing emotions effectively, empathy, and social skills. By practicing emotional intelligence, individuals can reduce burnout and maintain resilience. Organizations can create a culture of emotional intelligence by explicitly valuing it, incorporating it into performance reviews, supporting training programs, and promoting the importance of self-care.

Technique for Better Listening

02:19

Emphasizing Positive Intentions and Three Kinds of Empathy

03:02

Developing Empathy and Social Skills for Improved Interactions

03:01

Understanding the holistic nature of compassion

00:47

Introduction

5min

The Meaning of 'Optimal' and Overcoming Productivity Shame

3min

The Impact of Perfectionism

11min

The Power of Emotional Intelligence

22min

The Importance of Ongoing Practice for Emotional Intelligence

5min

The Power of Feedback

11min

The Role of Compassion and Self-Compassion in Preventing Burnout

4min

The Role of Compassion in Emotional Intelligence

13min

Wrapping Up: Book, Resources, Gratitude, and Sponsor Promotion

4min

How to boost productivity, empathy, and focus, while reducing burnout. From the godfather of Emotional Intelligence.

If you have any degree of ambition, one of the things you probably think about is how to perform at your best, or somewhere close, every day. How to keep your energy up. How to get into flow. How to stay focused and productive. How to play well with others.

Daniel Goleman— his friends call him Danny—-has been thinking and writing about optimal performance for decades. He’s perhaps best known for his book, Emotional Intelligence. He’s a Harvard trained psychologist who also wrote in the New York Times for a while. And in his youth, he spent many years studying meditation in Asia, alongside many of today’s most intellectual meditation teachers like Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg.

He’s got a new book called Optimal: How to Sustain Personal and Organizational Excellence Every Day, co-written with Cary Cherniss.

In this episode we talk about:

How to train your mind for optimal states
How to reduce burnout
How to develop and deploy empathy in a work setting
How to give feedback
A productivity hack that involves only doing the easy stuff
The 4 parts of emotional intelligence—and how to get better at each
And the future of EI in a world of AI

This episode kicks off the latest installment of our occasional series, Sanely Ambitious. Over the next two weeks, we will be posting episodes on: how to focus in the midst of a pandemic of distraction, how to fail well, and when to quit. It’s a great lineup.

Daniel Goleman’s online Emotional Intelligence Program

Related Episodes:

A Radical Approach to Productivity, Self-Compassion Series | Jocelyn K. Glei

#494. How to Speak Clearly, Calmly, and Without Alienating People | Dan Clurman and Mudita Nisker

The Science of Emotional Intelligence | Daniel Goleman

#523. A Masterclass in Handling Yourself When Things Suck | Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Daniel Goleman

#436. Brené Brown Says You're Doing Feelings Wrong

Sign up for Dan’s weekly newsletter here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Ten Percent Happier online bookstore

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes