By Damiete Braide
The Magic of Emotional Intelligence, Abiola Salami, 2020, Champ, pp. 180
Not until you have regretted taking some actions in life, emotional intelligence wouldn’t make any sense in any way. There are things to take home as Abiola ‘Champ’ Salami opens up the subject like an appetising Christmas turkey.
The mastery of one’s emotions may seem like an Herculean task, but it can be achieved with consistent and deliberate resolution. This is the magic waiting to happen to find as many who are lucky enough to lay hands on Abiola Salami’s The Magic of Emotional Intelligence.
Human emotions, positive or negative constantly affect the thought process and, in the end, produce the results we get in our day-to-day life.
What the author does with the book is to redirect the route of how humans react to stimulus because they feel something negative even though valid.
Salami takes readers on a journey to discover how emotions should not have it over us but the other way round. An individual who gets stepped on most likely will snap.
Is it the best thing to do? Is there something else I can do than be mad? How do I communicate to the other person, I’m hurt so that I don’t hurt them in return? These answers are provided in the book.
Each and every type of emotion highlighted in the book are relatable. One only needs to understand how to handle the negative ones and build up the positive ones. The author posits that leaders and all who aspire to be are expected to manage people’s feelings and theirs to effectively make solid decisions at any time.
Therefore, the book, serving as a guide, seeks to arm anyone with an appropriate attitude to getting the best result of situations and people. When a full understanding of the book is grasped, Salami intends to help his readers know and do better when it comes to dealing with people who are described as creatures of feelings not logic.
The real life stories he uses makes his attempt to correct wrong notions more relatable. In chapter Three, he opens up about his ‘passive’ approach to discipline and how it played out when he undertook a leadership role in church.
Whosoever is able to absorb and process information will do well to read this book. There is nothing great about losing your cool every time and having regrets. Every information contained in the book is worth the time. From the preface to the testimonials, a reader would find a balm, a map and magic that transforms a person from the ordinary grumpy, unhinged emotional being to a calculated, productive and successful friend or boss.
Abiola ‘Champ’ Salami is an award winning Performance Coach committed to raising world class leaders and improving the productive capacity and brand perception of organisations and governments.
He is an alumnus of Harvard University, Lagos Business School and American Government’s International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP).