8 Best-Selling Emotional Intelligence Books Millions Love

Explore Emotional Intelligence Books recommended by Drew Huston (Dropbox CEO), Deke Bridges (Marketing Expert), and The Dalai Lama, featuring proven strategies for personal and professional growth.

Drew Huston
Deke Bridges
Skip Prichard
Updated on June 25, 2025
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When millions of readers and top experts agree on the value of emotional intelligence, it’s clear this skill matters more than ever. In today’s complex social and professional landscapes, the ability to understand and manage emotions can shape success in profound ways. These eight best-selling Emotional Intelligence books offer proven frameworks and practical guidance that have helped countless individuals enhance their self-awareness, empathy, and leadership skills.

Experts like Drew Huston, CEO of Dropbox, emphasize the transformative impact of emotional intelligence on innovation and teamwork. Marketing strategist Deke Bridges praises practical tools for balancing IQ and EQ, while spiritual leader The Dalai Lama highlights the importance of emotional habits in fostering compassion and resilience. Their endorsements reflect a rich blend of perspectives that inform these popular selections.

While these books provide solid foundations and validated approaches, you might consider creating a personalized Emotional Intelligence book to focus specifically on your unique challenges and goals. This tailored approach combines expert insights with your personal context to accelerate growth in the areas that matter most to you.

Best for practical workplace development
Deke Bridges, a social media and marketing expert, found this book fascinating as he explored the difference between IQ and EQ, calling it a worthy read. His recommendation highlights how the book’s insights resonate with many seeking to grow their emotional intelligence. This aligns with The Washington Post's observation about the authors’ use of extensive surveys to create a precise EQ assessment, and Newsweek's note on the book’s engaging anecdotes and practical context. Together, their endorsements reflect the book’s appeal both to professionals and the wider public aiming to sharpen emotional skills.
DB

Recommended by Deke Bridges

Social media and marketing expert

Current read... fascinating IQ vs EQ. Worthy book. (from X)

Emotional Intelligence 2.0 book cover

by Travis Bradberry, Jean Greaves, Patrick M. Lencioni··You?

2009·280 pages·Emotional Intelligence, Emotions, Self Awareness, Self Management, Social Awareness

What happens when clinical psychology expertise meets practical workplace challenges? Dr. Travis Bradberry, co-founder of TalentSmart and a dual Ph.D. holder, developed the methods in this book to boost emotional intelligence through four key skills: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. You'll learn how to recognize and regulate your emotions, navigate social complexities, and strengthen interpersonal connections, with clear exercises and an online EQ assessment to track progress. This book suits professionals aiming to improve workplace dynamics and anyone seeking to enhance emotional skills that matter beyond raw IQ.

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This book stands out in emotional intelligence literature by focusing specifically on parenting through a five-step emotion coaching framework developed by psychologist John Gottman. It has earned widespread acceptance for teaching parents to recognize and validate their children's feelings, turning emotional experiences into growth opportunities. The approach promises to deepen parent-child connections and foster emotionally healthy adults, addressing a crucial gap in both emotional intelligence and child development fields.
Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child The Heart of Parenting book cover

by Ph.D. John Gottman, Joan Declaire, Daniel Goleman·You?

1998·240 pages·Parenting, Emotions, Emotional Intelligence, Parent, Child Development

Unlike most emotional intelligence books that focus on theory, this work by Ph.D. John Gottman and co-authors Joan Declaire and Daniel Goleman zeroes in on practical parenting strategies. You learn a five-step "emotion coaching" process that helps you recognize, validate, and guide your child's feelings, fostering their emotional regulation skills. Chapters detail how to turn emotional moments into teaching opportunities, with clear examples on labeling emotions and problem-solving. If you want to nurture confident, socially skilled children with healthier emotional lives, this book offers a grounded approach, though it's best suited for parents ready to engage deeply rather than casual readers.

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Best for personal emotional growth
This AI-created book on emotional intelligence is crafted based on your background, skill level, and specific goals for mastering emotional skills and resilience. By sharing which aspects of emotional intelligence matter most to you, this tailored book focuses exactly on the emotional abilities you want to develop. Unlike one-size-fits-all guides, this book aligns closely with your unique needs and experiences, making your learning both relevant and effective.
2025·50-300 pages·Emotional Intelligence, Self Awareness, Emotion Regulation, Empathy Development, Stress Management

This tailored book explores emotional intelligence with a focus uniquely matched to your interests and background, offering a personalized path to mastering emotional skills and building resilience. It examines how emotional awareness, regulation, empathy, and stress management interact to affect personal and professional success. By addressing your specific goals, the book reveals ways to cultivate emotional agility that aligns with your experiences and challenges. Blending widely valued findings with insights tailored to you, this book uncovers how personalized emotional learning can deepen self-understanding and enhance your ability to navigate complex social dynamics effectively. It’s a focused journey into emotional intelligence designed to engage and empower your growth.

Tailored Content
Emotional Agility
1,000+ Happy Readers
Best for daily emotional skill habits
The Dalai Lama, a globally respected spiritual leader, endorses this book for its clear guidance on creatively managing emotions and applying intelligence constructively. His appreciation highlights how "Emotional Intelligence Habits" aligns with widespread reader approval, offering accessible yet deep insights into emotional mastery. This endorsement came from his lifelong dedication to compassion and mindfulness, underscoring the book's practical value in personal growth. Additionally, Newsweek praises its engaging stories that clarify how to elevate your emotional intelligence score, reinforcing its usefulness for anyone eager to improve their EQ.

Recommended by The Dalai Lama

Spiritual leader and humanitarian

This book succinctly explains how to deal with emotions creatively and employ our intelligence in a beneficial way.

Emotional Intelligence Habits book cover

by Travis Bradberry··You?

2023·432 pages·Emotional Intelligence, Emotions, Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness

Unlike most emotional intelligence books that focus solely on theory, Dr. Travis Bradberry offers a habit-based approach to boosting your EQ in "Emotional Intelligence Habits." Drawing on his dual Ph.D. in Clinical and Industrial-Organizational psychology, Bradberry breaks down complex psychological and neuroscientific research into micro-behaviors you can actually practice daily. You'll learn how to improve your self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management through small but impactful habit changes, such as managing stress responses or enhancing communication tactics. This book suits anyone serious about developing emotional skills that directly impact leadership, relationships, and personal well-being.

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Best for neuroscience-based insights
Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., who spent over a decade covering behavioral and brain sciences for the New York Times and now co-directs the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations, brings a unique authority to this topic. His extensive academic and professional background at Harvard and Rutgers, combined with his global speaking engagements, underpin the insights in this book. Goleman’s exploration of emotional intelligence reshapes how you understand success and personal growth, revealing how emotional skills can shape your destiny more than IQ alone.
DH

Recommended by Drew Huston

Co-Founder and CEO of Dropbox

2006·352 pages·Emotional Intelligence, Interpersonal Skills, Emotions, Self Awareness, Empathy

Daniel Goleman, drawing on years of reporting behavioral and brain sciences for the New York Times and his role at Rutgers University, challenges the traditional idea that IQ alone defines intelligence. You learn how emotional intelligence—skills like self-awareness, empathy, and self-regulation—can influence your success and relationships more than raw intellect. The book explains why people with average IQs often outperform those with high IQs by mastering these emotional competencies, offering insights into nurturing these abilities throughout adulthood. Chapters exploring the brain’s dual systems and how emotions shape decisions provide concrete understanding you can apply in your personal and professional life.

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Best for leadership and EI integration
Martin Seligman, a Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, endorses this book after years of studying leadership and emotional intelligence. He highlights its solid foundation in both scientific research and business practice, calling it "sound and practical advice on leading effectively, based on science and business experience, from the leader in the field of emotional intelligence." This recommendation resonates widely with many readers who appreciate the book’s blend of psychology and real-world leadership challenges. Additionally, David Gergen, a Harvard Kennedy School professor, praises the book for showing how emotions drive leadership success, emphasizing its value for both students and seasoned leaders alike.

Recommended by Martin Seligman

Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania

Sound and practical advice on leading effectively, based on science and business experience, from the leader in the field of emotional intelligence.

2016·336 pages·Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Management, Team Building, Self Awareness

When Daniel Goleman and his coauthors first explored leadership through the lens of emotional intelligence, they challenged the old assumption that intellect alone drives success. This book teaches you how self-awareness, empathy, and social skills form the foundation of truly effective leadership. By diving into concepts like resonant leadership and the neuroscience behind emotional connection, you gain tools to motivate and collaborate in complex environments. Whether you’re managing a team or aspiring to lead, the authors' blend of psychology and business insight helps you understand and influence others more profoundly.

Published by Harvard Business Review Press
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Best for rapid emotional growth
This AI-created book on emotional intelligence is tailored to your skill level and personal goals. By sharing your background and what you want to focus on, you receive a book that concentrates on the emotional skills that matter most to you. This custom approach makes it easier to build emotional awareness and control quickly, avoiding generic advice. It’s like having a guide that matches your experiences, helping you grow where you need it most.
2025·50-300 pages·Emotional Intelligence, Emotional Awareness, Self Regulation, Empathy Development, Stress Management

This tailored book invites you on a focused journey to enhance your emotional intelligence with clear, actionable steps designed for rapid progress. It explores core concepts such as emotional awareness, self-regulation, and empathy, presenting them in ways that directly connect to your unique background and goals. By blending widely validated insights with your personal interests, it offers a customized path to understanding and managing emotions more effectively. The content reveals practical exercises and reflections that deepen your emotional insight, helping you build resilience and improve interpersonal connections within just one month. This personalized approach ensures you focus on what truly matters to you, accelerating your growth in emotional intelligence.

Tailored Guide
Emotional Insight
1,000+ Happy Readers
Best for sales professionals' EQ
Emotional Intelligence for Sales Success stands out by focusing specifically on the role of emotional intelligence within the sales process. This book highlights how developing skills like impulse control and empathy can transform your ability to connect with customers and handle challenging selling situations. By emphasizing emotional intelligence as a driver of performance from prospecting to closing, it offers a clear framework for sales professionals seeking to improve results through better relationships and understanding. Its practical approach addresses the modern sales environment where product knowledge alone no longer suffices.
2012·224 pages·Emotional Intelligence, Sales, Customer Relations, Communication Skills, Impulse Control

What sets this book apart is Colleen Stanley's focus on emotional intelligence as a concrete skill set that salespeople can develop to navigate tough customer interactions. Drawing from her extensive experience as a sales trainer, Stanley shows you how impulse control, empathy, and trust-building directly impact sales success. For example, she explains how mastering emotional self-regulation improves your questioning and listening techniques, leading to more meaningful conversations. If you’re in sales or client-facing roles, this book offers practical insights into turning emotional intelligence into a competitive edge, though it’s less suited for those outside sales contexts.

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Best for workplace emotional competencies
Daniel Goleman's Working with Emotional Intelligence brings his pioneering research into the workplace, making a strong case that emotional skills trump IQ and technical expertise when it comes to professional success. The book highlights how qualities like self-confidence and empathy affect hiring decisions and leadership, offering you a roadmap to cultivate these traits at any career stage. By focusing on emotional competencies, this work addresses a critical gap in traditional corporate training and presents a compelling argument for why developing emotional intelligence can reshape your career trajectory and workplace dynamics.
1998·400 pages·Organizational Psychology, Emotional Intelligence, Emotions, Self Awareness, Leadership Skills

Daniel Goleman's decades of research in psychology and neuroscience led him to reveal how emotional intelligence shapes success far beyond IQ or technical skill. In this book, you’ll learn to identify and develop key emotional competencies like self-awareness, impulse control, and empathy, all crucial for workplace excellence. Goleman breaks down how these skills influence hiring, promotion, and leadership effectiveness, offering practical insights for anyone aiming to advance their career. Whether you're an entry-level employee or a senior executive, this book clarifies why emotional intelligence matters and how you can cultivate it to improve your professional relationships and outcomes.

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Best for flow and emotional resilience
Emotional Intelligence Groundwork offers a fresh perspective on mastering your emotions to unlock flow and elevate your daily life. Jaime Velasquez presents a relatable approach for anyone overwhelmed by modern life's demands, connecting emotional intelligence directly to peak performance and creativity. This book stands out for its focus on practical strategies that help you stop self-sabotage and foster genuine connections, making it a promising guide for those eager to cultivate emotional resilience and live with more intention.
2024·312 pages·Emotional Intelligence, Flow State, Self Awareness, Relationship Management, Creativity

The methods Jaime Velasquez developed while navigating the complexities of daily overwhelm focus sharply on emotional intelligence as a gateway to personal flow and improved life quality. You’ll find clear guidance on cultivating self-awareness, managing relationships, and harnessing emotional insights to enhance creativity and learning. Specific chapters tackle how emotional intelligence intersects with flow states, offering practical tools to shift from stress to authentic engagement. This book is particularly useful if you’re seeking to break free from routine distractions and build deeper emotional connections with yourself and others. It’s a straightforward resource for those wanting to live more purposefully without fluff or jargon.

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Conclusion

This collection of Emotional Intelligence books reveals several clear themes: the power of practical, habit-based strategies; the importance of emotional skills in leadership and sales; and the growing recognition of emotional intelligence as a key driver of personal and professional success. If you prefer proven methods grounded in psychology, start with classics like Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. For validated approaches to leadership and workplace dynamics, combine Primal Leadership with Working with Emotional Intelligence.

For parents seeking focused guidance, Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child offers time-tested emotion coaching tools. Alternatively, you can create a personalized Emotional Intelligence book that blends these proven methods with your specific needs, accelerating your emotional growth journey.

These widely-adopted approaches have helped many readers succeed in managing emotions, building relationships, and leading with empathy—skills that remain essential in an ever-changing world.

Frequently Asked Questions

I'm overwhelmed by choice – which book should I start with?

Start with Emotional Intelligence 2.0 for practical skills you can use immediately. It offers clear exercises and an online assessment that help you understand and improve your emotional abilities step-by-step.

Are these books too advanced for someone new to Emotional Intelligence?

Not at all. Many, like Emotional Intelligence Groundwork, are approachable for beginners and focus on everyday habits and simple techniques to build your emotional skills gradually.

What's the best order to read these books?

Begin with foundational books like Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, then explore specialized titles such as Primal Leadership or Emotional Intelligence for Sales Success depending on your interests and goals.

Do I really need to read all of these, or can I just pick one?

You can pick one that fits your focus area. For example, parents might choose Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child, while professionals benefit from Working with Emotional Intelligence. Each book offers unique value tailored to different needs.

Which books focus more on theory vs. practical application?

Emotional Intelligence dives into scientific theory and neuroscience, while Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and Emotional Intelligence Habits emphasize practical exercises and daily behaviors you can adopt.

How can I get Emotional Intelligence insights tailored just for me?

Expert books provide solid foundations, but personalized content can target your unique challenges and goals. Consider creating a personalized Emotional Intelligence book to combine proven methods with your specific situation for faster, more relevant growth.

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