PAPERS April 2010 ? Project Management Journal ? DOI: 10.1002/pmj 5 INTRODUCTION ? G iven that the interest in the concept of emotional intelligence is a rather recent phenomenon, it is sur ...

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PAPERS
April 2010 ? Project Management Journal ? DOI: 10.1002/pmj 5
INTRODUCTION ?
G
iven that the interest in the concept of emotional intelligence is a
rather recent phenomenon, it is surprising that the importance of
emotionally associated abilities or skills in project management
was recognized over three decades ago. Hill (1977) identified how
high-performing project managers were more likely to adopt greater listen-
ing and coaching behaviors, as well as facilitate openness and emotional
expression. More recently, these skills or abilities have again resurfaced as a
major focus of attention within project management, driven by the wider
research in emotional intelligence (EI) and the increasing literature that
voiced concerns over the appropriate knowledge and skill base required for
project managers to be effective (Crawford, Morris, Thomas, & Winter, 2006;
El-Sabaa, 2001; Sizemore House, 1988; Zimmerer & Yasin, 1998). Writers such
as Winter, Smith, Morris, and Cicmil (2006), for example, have suggested that
emotional competences are associated with the intuition and skills neces-
sary for project managers to become reflective practitioners. As a result,
project managers with high emotional intelligence should be better
equipped to solve the new challenges and problems that each new project
brings.
Salovey and Mayer’s (1990) initial paper on emotional intelligence iden-
tified EI as a subset of social intelligence and characterized the concept as
consisting of a set of four interrelated cognitive abilities associated with the
processing of emotional information. Similar to the broader notion of intel-
ligence, EI is described as the ability to reason about a particular type of
information as follows: “The ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and
express emotion; the ability to access and/or generate feelings when they
facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowl-
edge; and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intel-
lectual growth” (Mayer & Salovey, 1997, p. 10).
A significant body of research has been building over the past two
decades that has found these emotional intelligence abilities to be associat-
ed with a range of important work-related behaviors. Particularly significant
from a project’s perspective have been associations found between EI and
leadership (Barling, Slater, & Kelloway, 2000; Rosete & Ciarrochi, 2005),
team effectiveness ( Jordan, Ashkanasy, Hartel, & Hooper, 2002), and work-
group effectiveness (Druskat & Wolff, 2001).
Druskat and Druskat (2006) suggested that the nature and characteristics
of projects place a particular emphasis on the need for project managers to
Emotional Intelligence and Its
Relationship to Transformational
Leadership and Key Project Manager
Competences
Nicholas Clarke, School of Management, University of Southampton, Southampton,
United Kingdom
ABSTRACT ?
Key dimensions of project manager behaviors
considered to b