Daniel Goleman

Daniel Goleman is a psychologist, science journalist and author of Emotional Intelligence. He describes his work as helping people tune in to their emotions with intelligence and widen their circle of caring, so that organizations can change from the inside out.

Goleman was born in Stockton, California, in 1946, to parents who were both college teachers. He studied at Amherst College, spent part of his university years at the University of California at Berkeley, and went on to Harvard in clinical psychology. His mentor there was David C. McClelland, whose work on the competencies that set star performers apart he returned to later in his career. He has meditated since his junior year at Berkeley. With a Harvard fellowship and later a Social Science Research Council grant, he studied the ancient psychologies and meditation practices of Asia in India and Sri Lanka. His doctoral research looked at meditation as an intervention in stress arousal, and his first book, now called The Meditative Mind, summarized that research.

After teaching a popular course on the psychology of consciousness at Harvard, he worked at Psychology Today and then, from 1984, spent twelve years at The New York Times, reporting on the brain and behavioral sciences. His 1995 book Emotional Intelligence grew out of that reporting. It stayed on the Times bestseller list for a year and a half and is available in 40 languages. He left the paper to devote himself to the message of the book, including the idea that schools should teach emotional literacy alongside academic subjects. He co-founded the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), and he is on the board of the Mind & Life Institute.

His other books include Working with Emotional Intelligence, Primal Leadership, Social Intelligence, Focus, Altered Traits (with Richard Davidson), and Why We Meditate (with Tsoknyi Rinpoche). Today he writes, speaks and teaches on emotional intelligence, leadership and mindfulness. He co-designed the Emotional and Social Competence Inventory and a set of online courses built on the 12 competencies in his model.