Name: Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
Rating: 4.1 (130 reviews)
Author: Anthony Mersino

What’s in it for me? Become a superb project manager!

Consider this combination: project management and emotional intelligence. Perhaps that seems like an odd matchup, but, in fact, these things are intricately connected – at least, they are if you want to be a successful project manager.

But do you know how to combine these things?

Well, this is exactly what these blinks seek to teach you. Read on, and enhance your abilities as a project manager by learning all about concepts related to emotional intelligence, including self- and social awareness as well as self- and relationship management.

In these blinks, you’ll discover

why emotional intelligence is especially important for project managers;
the wisdom of setting emotional boundaries; and
how to build strong relationships with your stakeholders.

Emotional intelligence can advance your career as a project manager.

Have you ever felt like your workplace was stifling your emotions? If so, you certainly aren’t alone. A lot of project managers deliberately try to create an emotion-free work environment. That, however, is a big mistake. Positive emotions (and even some negative ones!) can actually help in the workplace.

A bit of emotional intelligence can help lead a project to success. Emotional intelligence, a term popularized by Daniel Goleman’s 1995 best seller, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, refers to our ability not only to identify emotions in ourselves and others, but to use those emotions to guide our behavior.

For project managers, emotional intelligence should be geared toward improving work performance. Emotional intelligence is very powerful. In fact, one study of the relationship between IQ, emotional intelligence and project managers found that a manager’s emotional intelligence often correlated with a project’s success, whereas there was no correlation between success and IQ.

And emotional intelligence isn’t only critical for managing your project – it gives you a competitive advantage as a manager, too!

Emotional intelligence allows project managers to develop positive relationships with their team members and stakeholders, and it can give them the edge on competition, too. If you’re good at working with people, you’ll set yourself apart from other managers, and therefore get better projects and more chances to use and develop your emotional skills

And the competition is rising! Every year, more and more people try to get their PMP (Project Management Professional) certificate. In 1995, only 4,410 people took the test; in 2011, 500,000 took it! In this increasingly competitive work environment, you need to make yourself stand out in any way you can. Emotional intelligence can do a lot in this regard.

The basis of emotional intelligence is self-awareness.

Self-awareness is the base of emotional intelligence. It refers to your ability to recognize your own emotions and the effect they have on those around you. And it comprises three components: emotional self-awareness, self-assessment and self-confidence.

Emotional self-awareness is about understanding your own feelings. This is often a challenge. Luckily, you can use the SASHET framework to identify those elusive or frightening emotions.

Understand the people around you through social awareness.

The next key part of emotional intelligence is building strong relationships with other people, and that requires social awareness.

Social awareness is about understanding the emotions of others. It’s made up of four parts: empathy, organizational awareness, seeing others clearly and setting emotional boundaries.

Use your emotions to successfully lead your team.

The final aspect of emotional intelligence for project managers is team leadership. Team leadership is the ability to lead the project team toward their goals in a healthy and effective way. It’s how you overcome conflicts and keep everyone on track.

Communication and conflict management are the two most important skills here.

Key ideas in Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers

What is Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers about?

Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers (2007) builds on the writings of Daniel Goleman, who developed principles of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is crucial in many aspects of life, and in these blinks Anthony Mersino tailors Goleman’s principles specifically to the needs of project managers.