Title: Winning Instinct, Decoding the Power Within; Author: Virender Kapoor; Publisher: Bloomsbury India; Pages: 234; Price: Rs.299
Virender Kapoor, the founder of MILE, a management institute in Pune, aims to help you bring about positive changes in your life through his latest book "Winning Instinct" by changing your mindset about things that are important - hope, compassion and optimism - as much as money and fame. The book explores Emotional Intelligence (EI) and motivation as the core to an all-round successful and happy life.
The author says that Emotional Quotient (EQ), the thrust area of this book, is more important than Intelligence Quotient (IQ). For a satisfying work life, the book says that connecting emotionally with your work, organisation and colleagues is important.
He also lays stress on inter-personal skills, and suggest ways to improve these. Good communication skills not only help at the micro level of home and work but have also been a key deciding factor at an international scale. For instance, Kapoor says that deals have been signed between two countries entirely because the heads of the two countries got along well.
The chapter 'Find Your Cup of Tea' would be relevant to most youngsters unsure of what they want to pursue as a career. The book explores a wide array of areas - from controlling one's emotions to learning to effectively deal with people.
The one chapter where I expected more out of the author was "Your Emotional Bio," which gives an astrological dimension to the book, linking EI to one's zodiac sign. The chapter does not add anything new to the already known personality traits of each sunsign.
The book is in an easy-to-read format, with an 'In a Nutshell' section at the end of each chapter summarizing the main points. It is profusely filled with anecdotes and real-life inspiring stories. The content in each chapter is succinctly put, with headings, sub-headings, and bullet points. One would enjoy the book for the numerous wisdom quotes.
The EQ Profiling at the end would help you in figuring out your weak and strong areas; urging you to work on the former, and using the latter effectively.
The book is more than just a 'read and be done with' kind of book. The short questionnaires called "Your Personal Road Map" make you ponder over your characteristics, weaknesses, likes and dislikes - and eggs you on to undertake changes to improve your life, and to best link your idea of success with motivation and emotions. This is a book to keep and not lend, going back to your answers years later to gauge your progress.
(Shaifali Agrawal can be contacted at shaifalihere@gmail.com)
