More and more leadership training in the workplace focuses on developing the social and emotional skills that WINGS teaches kids in the early elementary school years. Here's a video of Yvette Vignando of Emotional Intelligence Development Australia explaining why emotional intelligence ought to be an essential part of the curriculum in every school - transforming kids into "better learners, more connected, better behaved."

General Colin Powell knows how to fight and win, so when he announces a new campaign to mobilize Americans to end the high school dropout crisis, it's great news for those of us in the field. 

It's easy to see why Boulder, Colo., and its scenic vistas made the list, and a frigid winter makes balmy Honolulu a safe bet, but why on earth is Holland, Mich., high on the list of the happiest towns in America?

What is that special something that makes a person charismatic? Think of people like Oprah Winfrey, John F. Kennedy, Gandhi. Ronald Riggio, Ph.D., has studied charisma for three decades and he says they all possess a collection of social and emotional skills that allow them to affect and influence others at a deep emotional level.

The breakthrough that gave birth to WINGS - that the narrow view of intelligence focused on academic abilities neglected the powerful role of social and emotional skills in human success and happiness - came from Harvard professor Howard Gardner and his theory of multiple intelligences. Winner of the first MacArthur genius grant, Gardner takes a look back in this article and reflects on his groundbreaking insight. Now he spends most of his time focused on "the kind of human being you are."

Love this approach to genuine and joyful giving! A New Yorker decided to start the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy by giving each of nine friends $100 to give away. The only requirement was that they show up at a party in a month and account for what they'd done with the money. That was 5 years ago, and the idea spread as far as California and Georgia, where others have started their own chapters of the Secret Society. Some of this year's recipients and how they spent their $100:

What a charge! Our staff is still glowing from the visit by MSNBC's "Morning Joe" co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski and how they were bowled over by our kids. Said Joe: "It's an amazing program doing great stuff with disadvantaged kids" when he mentioned WINGS on his program the next morning. He had fun teaching the kids how to do a "grip and grin" handshake that he learned as a congressman from Florida. Mika, towering on high heels, wanted to race the kids - could have been dangerous for her!

Zynga CEO Mark Pincus had some interesting things to say to The New York Times about why instead of a soccer franchise or a successful business full of “stars,” he’d rather stock the team with people who possess high emotional intelligence. And he says he did not learn that in Harvard Business School!

Related topics: What is emotional intelligence, teaching social skills to children

New article in the Wall Street Journal by Johah Lehrer about willpower and the wisdom of pacing yourself on your good intentions of changing behavior. The best place to start is self-awareness - one of of the five basic social and emotional skills.

Willpower, like a bicep, can only exert itself so long before it gives out; it's an extremely limited mental resource.

What a boost WINGS got today from influential columnist Sean Stannard-Stockton!

“The best annual report I’ve seen from a nonprofit – serious info, easily digested,” declared his Twitter post, after Sean looked at "Laying the Groundwork for the Growth Years Ahead" - the WINGS Annual Report for 2008-09.