Opinions vary as to what defines a “classic” business book. My own opinion is that it offers insights and counsel that are of timeless value. To paraphrase Bernard of Chartres, a 12th century monk, their authors are the shoulders upon which each new generation of leaders stands. For example:

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
Daniel Goleman
Bantam Books (1995)

In business today we demand empathic leaders, collegial teams, and patient customer-service reps.

Meeting those requirements depends upon emotional intelligence: the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict.

Neither the term nor the concept originated with Goleman, a psychologist, who discovered both while working as a science reporter at The New York Times.

But it was Goleman who popularized the concept, synthesizing a broad range of scientific findings, including information on the first fruits of the nascent field of affective neuroscience, which explores how emotions are regulated in the brain.