by David Ashley
Research and empirical data shows that leadership
intelligence skills play a crucial role in creating and sustaining strategic
success in organizations. (Chuang, 2013) (Alon, 2005) (Leban, 2004)
Since project managers are often on the forefront of executing strategic
initiatives, the Project Management Institute (PMI) included leadership
knowledge in their Talent Triangle. The
three legs of this triangle are: Leadership, Technical Project Management,
Strategic and Business Management. The
triangle defines the knowledge required to obtain and maintain, through education
hours, a professional project and program manager certification through PMI. (Project Management Institute, 2017)
One leadership intelligence skill touted in more recent
years is “emotional intelligence”.
When I first heard this term, I thought it was a bit of an
oxymoron. We’ve all seen that intelligent decision making can be difficult when
emotions run high. There are brain science studies that explain why this
happens. It’s all about an overactive limbic system where emotions happen in
the brain and weakened activity in the frontal lobe where reasoning happens. (Gutnik, 2006) (Lerner, 2014)
Studies also show that the measure of intelligence (Intelligence
Quotient) is wholly distinct from Emotional Intelligence. An intelligent person
may have low emotional intelligence. The two are in no way interrelated. (Goleman, 2011)
So, this term is a bit of a misnomer for me. But I’ll
refrain from this minor dissension to address the central topic: how emotional
intelligence might serve to better the project manager.
It seems emotional intelligence with regard to leadership
skills suggests an understanding and management of internal and external moods
and emotions. Internal refers to the project manager him/herself. External
refers to those who may be stakeholders or project team members.
More specifically, project managers should be able to understand
internal and external:
- expressions of emotion
- the effect of emotions on cognitive processes and decision making
- coping mechanisms and managerial methods for various types of emotions
Consider that emotions are part of the human experience, and
because projects are accomplished by humans, emotions are naturally infused as
part of every project experience. We simply cannot escape the necessity of
learning how to manage emotions within our projects.
Researchers estimate that emotional intelligence skills contribute
to being effective as a project leader as demonstrated by: (George, 2000)
- helping teams collectively agree on goals and objectives
- building a team that has an appreciation for the importance of project activities
- creating enthusiastic and optimistic teams that are cooperative
- keeping the team flexible with change and decisions
All this brain study and psychology background is a bit
ethereal and entirely too complex to cover in a blog post. And coincidently, a blog post no matter how informational,
is not where one gains higher emotional intelligence skills. You will get
better at this only through experience. So, I’ll just point out a few things
that I’ve learned (the hard way) in my professional and project management
experience about how to convert emotions into promotions – that’s fancy talk
for making crazy emotional events work to your advantage. Here’s a simple three
step process:
- Keep Calm and Win. There is nothing like emotions to elevate emotions. Getting all worked up because someone else is doesn’t help. Reacting in an equal and opposing way might make things even, but it will rarely make things better. The goal is to have a productive conversation between two reasoning adults. Even when it seems some people can’t be unemotional, keeping calm is always best, because it is better for you, physically and mentally. Take a deep breath and move on to number 2.
- Don’t let your emotions shut off your ears. Listen for the underlying reason for the emotion, then respond. Avoid reacting. Definitely do not overreact. Emotions are real and have a reason or a source. Take a few minutes to understand and listen for the reason(s) for the emotion. Then move on to number 3.
- Respond calmly with thoughtful words. Acknowledge the emotion, then try to deescalate the emotion by asking if it would be OK to spend some time to reason out a logical and cooperative solution. This step is especially important on a biophysical level. By responding calmly and asking to reason with the person you are helping to reduce the sensory neutrons wildly triggering in the limbic system, specifically in the amygdala and hippocampus, and encouraging more activity in the frontal lobe where rational and unemotional thinking happens. The most effective decisions are ones that have an emotional component (to drive passionate support) but are logical and commonsensical.
Obviously, in this process I am referring to an escalated
emotional situation. This is just one of very many types of emotional
situations a project manager will encounter. Some emotions will be very
positive and encouraging. These should be encouraged. Some will be very subtle
(think: passive aggressive). These are the most difficult to manage because
they are hidden, deeply personal, and can be subversive. Each type of emotion is
handled differently.
There are a gross number of books are the market today that
dive into this topic in excruciating detail.
Some of the more popular ones are by Travis Bradberry (Emotional Intelligence 2.0 or The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book) and Daniel Goleman (Working with Emotional Intelligence or Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of
Emotional Intelligence).
Leadership knowledge necessarily includes the skills required
to motivate humans, with all their accompanying and complex emotions, toward
accomplishing common goals. A working knowledge of what we’ve come to know as
emotional intelligence will help toward that end.
Alon, I. H. (2005, November-December). Global
Leadership Success Through Emotional and Cultural Intelligences. Business
Horizons, 48(6), 501-512.
Chuang, S. (2013). Essential Skills For Leadership
Effectiveness in Diverse Workplace Development. Online Journal for
Workforce Education and Development, 6(1), 1-23. Retrieved from
http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1133&context=ojwed
George, J. (2000, August 1). Emotions and
Leadership: The Role of Emotional Intelligence. Human Relations, 53(8),
1027-1055.
Goleman, D. (2011). The Brain and Emotional
Intelligence: New Insights. Florence, MA: More Than Sound.
Gutnik, L. H. (2006, April 7). Methodological
Review, The Role of Emotion in Decision-Making. New York, NY, USA: Columbia
University.
Leban, W. Z. (2004). Linking emotional intelligence
abilities and transformational leadership styles. Leadership &
Organization Development Journal, 25(7), 554-564.
Lerner, J. L. (2014, June 16). Emotion and Decision
Making. Annual Review of Psychology.
Project Management Institute. (2017). CCR
Handbook. Project Management Institute Inc.
