Project Management Leadership: Building Creative Teams, 2nd Edition

Chapter 9

Emotional Intelligence

Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Recognize that emotions can affect our behavior and actions, becoming significant drivers of performance and achievement.
• Identify the Emotional Intelligence domains and competencies appropriate to leadership and team working.

Emotional Intelligence can be defined as: The development of social skills and intelligence regarding the emotions, especially in the ability to monitor one’s own or others’ emotions.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) has been brought into the popular and management arenas through the work and writing of Daniel Goleman. He asserts that when working in teams or closely with other people, our emotions play a significant part in shaping our behaviors and the quality of our relationships. This adds a new dimension to the skills that are necessary for successful collaboration; skills that are not usually taught in schools or colleges. It is these skills that relate to how we deal with people at a personal level.

Emotional Intelligence allows the identification of appropriate emotions and how they can identify and support appropriate action. Also, particular intelligence ‘domains’ can contribute to effective leadership styles (see Chapter 6 on Leadership Theories and Styles). The concepts behind Emotional Intelligence are based upon many years of research, conducted internationally with a wide range of contributions across many walks of life.

For those who are ...