A critical review of: Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Styles in Construction Project Management by Riza Yosia Sunindijo; Bonaventura

H. W. Hadikusumo; and Stephen Ogunlana.

The paper attempts to analyze and reveal whether Emotional Intelligence does indeed affects the performance of Project Managers and Project Engineers (PMEs) and if that is the case if significant difference in leadership styles between Managers with high EI and low EI exists. The authors, despite the extensive amount of literature review they exhibit in the article, tend to follow and implement Golemans theories (found mostly in his 2002 book: Primal Leadership) and the whole paper is mainly an attempt to verify through statistical analysis these theories. They take for granted that good human skills are necessary for leading a project team and that managers with high EI perform better on tasks given (Carmeli, 2003), therefore their main examination is the impact a certain level of EI might have on leadership styles. The team collects questionnaires that were not created by them, but from a professional organization (TalentSmart, 2004), and they are based on Golemans theory of EIs four domains (Self-awareness, Self-management, social awareness and relationship management). The fact that are accepted by the EI consortium ensures the quality of the research but on the other hand the authors are now playing a role of transponders of premade instruments used again and therefore no new methods are introduced nor do they expect significant deviation from similar tests carried out by TalentSmart. The questionnaire was handed out in 34 PMEs in Thailand, the majority being experienced managers with over ten years working in the field. Something reasonable considering for one to obtain a managerial position experience is needed. One might consider the sample number inadequate for such a research and even if the authors argue that results were compared to the 13,948 respondents TalentSmart had worldwide and they were almost identical that refers to the average EI score achieved and not to the actual goal of the research, which was the leadership behavior. The responders were separated to two groups, the ones with an EI score lower or equal to 70 and the second group with above or equal 77. The team chose thirteen leadership behaviors (which were the essence of the research) and compared the average scores achieved from the two groups in each behavior. Results confirmed what the authors expected but with small differences apart two behaviors, open communication and proactive. Especially open communication is of great importance as Rahim (2002) states that is a key factor in organizational success. Overall the article uses a persuasive methodology using professional tools and analyzing the results in depth. Results extracted verify the pre-mentioned theories which is believed to be the authors initial assumption if taken in concern what was taken as given in their introduction. The relation between EI and management is direct and the interaction is pointed in the results. Possible weak points of the research that could someone point out, is the fact that thirty-four questionnaires is a small sample to give representative results and that the samples are gathered only in Thailand. Since the article does not bound its results in a specific country the team should have attempted to gather information from other countries as well. Besides, the way people interact amongst them is greatly connected to the area they grow and the vibes they absorb in their everyday life. There is a more human communication in a small country rather cities with populations of multiple millions (Pease, 2011).

-Sunindijo, R.Y.; Hadikusumo, B.H.W.; Ogunlana, S. (2007) Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Styles in Construction Project Management, Journal of Management in Engineering, 23(4), p.166-170. -Carmeli, A. (2003). The relationship between emotional intelligence and work attitudes, behavior, and outcomes: An examination among senior managers. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18(8), 788813. -Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ, Bantam. -Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., and McKee, A.. (2002). Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead With Emotional Intelligence, Time Warner Paperbacks. -Muller, R; Turner, R. (2010), Leadership competency profiles of successful project managers, International journal of project management, 28(5), p.437-448 -Pease, A. and Pease, B. (2011) Body Language in the Workplace, Chatham: Orion Books -Rahim, M. A. (1992). Managing conflict in organizations. Construction conflict management and resolution, P. Fenn and R. Gameson, eds., E & FN Spon.