1 TalentSmart (2016). About emotional intelligence. Accessed 18 November 2016 from http://www.talentsmart.com/about/emotionalintelligence.php.
4 Bradberry, Travis and Jean Greaves (2009). Emotional Intelligence 2.0. San Diego, CA: TalentSmart
Relationship Management
Finally, relationship management measures skill in interacting with others. Examples include influencing
others, communicating effectively, developing others, building bonds, and fostering teamwork. Every
leader wants to excel in this core aspect, but doing so often requires many personal sacrifices. There is a
popular comic depicting a manager versus a leader, in which the manager sits on a throne and directs a
team to pull on a rope, while the leader gets out in front of the team and shows them the way. For
others to see the bonds as genuine, leaders need to try and be on their teams level whenever possible.
Tips for building strong relationship management skills include:
Have an open-door policy. People who make themselves accessible often create more
opportunities to forge strong relationships with team members and other stakeholders.
Sometimes being too open may allow for disruptive interruptions, so leaders may block some of
their own time for work they need to complete.
Be open and curious. People are more willing to build connections to those they see as having
actual interest in their own lives. Being open isnt about coaxing out topics people dont want to
discuss, but about finding opportunities to develop relationships based on common ground.
When you care, show it. Leaders and managers are often taught to remain aloof, which may
cause mismatches between team members and leaders based on emotion. For example, if a
team has just completed a major milestone and the leader is happy, he or she should feel free to
join in the celebration instead of just pointing the team to the next milestone.
Conclusion
Project success or failure can turn on more than just schedule or cost metrics. Team morale, which is
influenced by emotion, can also make or break a project. Project leaders with strong emotional
intelligence can curtail emotional responses within themselves, enabling them to better manage
emotions of their team members and keep their energy focused on project success. They can use their
emotions to build healthy and constructive thought patterns, rather than unhealthy and destructive
thought patterns.
One of the important takeaways from the study of emotional intelligence is that it is as much about selfimprovement as it is social improvement. Self-awareness and self-management are just as important as
social awareness and relationship management. Project managers and leaders who harness their own
emotions can more effectively address issues raised by others, resolve conflicts, communicate
effectively, and enable greater project success for their teams. For these reasons, studying emotional
intelligence is critical to project leadership success.
Do you want to learn more about how to develop your leadership skills as a project manager? Join us
for our free monthly webinars. Our series on leadership topics concludes in December with a webinar
on Key Leadership Skills.
References
1. Bradberry, Travis and Jean Greaves (2009). Emotional Intelligence 2.0. San Diego, CA:
TalentSmart.
2. Goleman, Daniel (2000, March-April). "Leadership that gets results." Harvard Business
Review.
3. TalentSmart (2016). About emotional intelligence. Accessed 18 November 2016 from
http://www.talentsmart.com/about/emotional-intelligence.php.