Relational Intelligence: How Leaders Can Expand Their Influence Through a New Way of Being Smart

by Steve Saccone

An insightful and practical guide for developing relational leadership skills and engaging new paradigms of influence Relational Intelligence reveals how leaders can become smarter in the way they conduct their relationships, and as a result, catalyze their impact. This book unwraps the hidden power of a relational genius and the practical pursuits that contribute to increasing one's relational quotient (RQ). Steve Saccone offers thought-provoking and compelling pathways into understanding the synergistic effect of relational intelligence, mission, and influence. He demonstrates how critical the art of relational intelligence is for leaders who desire to better serve those they lead, as well as the organizations and communities they love. The author reveals how to increase one's awareness of the nuances in relational dynamics and suggests ways to help navigate relationships more intelligently and productively.

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published August 11, 2009

About the author

Steve Saccone is a director of leadership development at The Highway Community in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he trains and develops emerging leaders, staff and volunteers. A specialist in leadership development and inner life formation, he also founded and directed The Protégé Program, a global leadership experience for future entrepreneurs, church planters and spiritual leaders.

He was on staff at Mosaic in Los Angeles, served at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, and has been a consultant with the Leadership Connection, Monvee and the Gallup Organization. He is the author of Relational Intelligence, and he and his wife, Cheri, are the parents of two boys.

Reviews

[John Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

He shared a lot of “this is what makes you a relational genius” with very little how. He shared stories of others who could do it well but there needed to be more practical steps.

[Ross McDougall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this first a few years ago and it fundamentally changed me. It was so refreshing and exciting to read something about intentionality in relationships (something that I considered often), and looked at those relationships and behaviours as things that could be improved or employed more effectively.
Now my life story is over, Saccone puts valiant effort into breaking down the various aspects of relationships and provides practical examples of ways to view them in a different context to get them working for the good of all.
This time around, I felt the slow zooming-out of his focus to the world-at-large was both inspiring and unhelpful; The book seemed to lose a little of the laser-focus in the first few chapters at this point, but was still far from distracting from Saccone's desired effect.
It's worth a read for EVERYONE leading in a church context and those faithful who want to improve themselves and be more effective in relationships/life generally.

[S. Stutzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book even if wanting theology.

It’s a book geared towards increasing relational intelligence with Christian undertones. Some moments of the book are brilliant and others are disastrous. But I think it’s worth reading.

As a person with admittedly terrible RI, this read was a great help and I hope to refer back to it from time to time.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grest read.



A practical approach to establishing and naturing relationships for purposes of personal growth, influence and leadership. Relational intelligence is especially useful for leaders seeking to influence positively.

[Rob Nicholls · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful and thought-provoking book from Steve. Certainly a very important intelligence and, as Steve writes, an ability that can be developed if we consider it a priority. And we should!

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the first chapter, Steve Saccone makes a case that effective leaders must have good relationships. Then each of the next seven chapters explains a behavior pattern to emulate or to avoid. The first is Micheal Scott, the boss from the show the Office: he is rude without knowing it, so Saccone advises readers to know themselves.

This book had some good ideas: know yourself (chapter 2), look beyond the surface (page 130), look where the conversation is going (chapter 6), etc.

My main problem is it was not practical because there wasn't enough detail on how to implement much of his advice in my life. My second problem is is I doubt the credibility of most such books unless there is rigorous, scientific research.

Tip: the printed link to the quiz is broken, but after a short search for his email address, the author emailed it to me right away. However, I'm not sure it's psychometrically valid.

[Eric Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing book to learn the why behind the what. I learned a TON of principles from this book. Many books are a good rehash of principles I already knew, but Saccone drops some new wisdom on me that will change the way I think about relationships. I took lots of notes in the margins, and dog eared dozens of pages. He talked about 6 defining roles of a relational genius: 1)The Story Collector; 2)The Energy Carrier; 3)The Compelling Relator; 4)The Conversational Futurist; 5) The Likeable Hero; 6)The Disproportionate Investor. Each chapter was rich with content that helped me see that I'm not nearly as saavy about relationships as I think I am.

[Phil Shields · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of bathe best books I've read on leadership. After spending time with Leadership Network last week I understand better what they are pursuing as a group. Steve Saccone does a great job walking through the balance of relationships and leadership. This is a book that I will continue to go back to for guidance and tools to develop.

[Daryl Watts · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun read. I would have liked to have seen some foundational research to back up the author's conclusions. It appears that he categories of relational geniuses are observational and anecdotal. The web site, www.relationalintelligence.info was fun and helpful for discussion.

[Steve Robbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book. It was a hard read for some reason and took me longer to get through than other books. But I am definitely glad i finished it. Great principles that I have and will continue to put into practice.

[Nancy Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful reflections on the art of relational connectedness

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not one of my favorite books but did have a couple of good points in how to be intentional about relationships.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should have been a blog post. But there are some great concepts and helpful lessons about building better relationships.

**re-read for reference.