We interviewed the author of Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence, Dr. Daniel Goleman. This book is his first comprehensive collection of his key findings on leadership. This often-cited, proven-effective material will help leaders develop stellar management, performance and innovation for themselves and their teams.

Do you know what an “amygdala hijack” is? It is from one of Dr. Goleman’s books, Emotional Intelligence. He explains that it is the brain’s radar for threat. It’s a structure in the emotional centers. It is constantly scanning to see if you are safe, and if the person is dangerous. It is what flips us over into a flood of anger or anxiety, or some toxic state. That’s the trigger point for it, and the hijack. When we are hijacked, it takes over the prefrontal zone, the brain’s executive center, just behind the forehead. It completely torpedo’s our ability to work well, let alone lead.

The technical explanation of that is that when the amygdala captures and drives the prefrontal area, it shrinks working memory. Working memory is what we think of as attention. It’s our zone of awareness or what we can think about right now and take in right now, it has a limited capacity. When the amygdala takes it over, all you can think about is what is upsetting you. So, that’s where the IQ points vanish. That’s where your ability to access everything you know, or to make good decisions, or to be creative, disappears.

Also learn about the four elements of emotional intelligence with Dr. Goleman who is a psychologist who lectures frequently to business audiences, professional groups and on college campuses. He has received many awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize for his articles in the Times, and a Career Achievement award for journalism from the American Psychological Association.

Each month 95,000 people tune-in to tune-up their performance and learn about Emotional Intelligence. Listen to the complete discussion without commercials, above.