Career Track Supplement - November 2008

*The
Emotional
Internet
For tips on emotional
intelligence, visit the
following websites:
www.eiconsortium.org
The Consortium for Research
on Emotional Intelligence in
Organizations highlights the
latest research on emotional
intelligence.
www.danielgoleman.info
Daniel Goleman, author of
the bestseller Emotional
Intelligence—Why It Can Matter
More Than IQ [Bantam Books,
1995], maintains this blog
of assorted emotional
intelligence resources.
www.unh.edu/emotional_
intelligence John D. Mayer,
a personal psychologist with
the University of New
Hampshire in Durham, New
Hampshire, USA, covers
scientific information about
emotional intelligence.

intelligence, a person has to want to change, explains JP Pawliw-Fry, president of the Institute for Health and Human Potential, Barrie, Ontario, Canada. “Unless internally motivated, people will only want to change if there is enough pain [within the organization],” he says.

But a lack of emotional intelligence can mean trouble across the organization.

“Emotions—especially negative emotions— are infectious,” he says. “If managers are unable to manage their emotions, they can have a toxic effect on the people in their business.”

Judgment Time

To build emotional intelligence, project managers should begin looking at how their actions are perceived. Most of us judge ourselves based on our intention, yet judge others based on their impact, Mr. Pawliw-Fry says.

“If you do not know the impact you are having on others, it is very hard to change your behavior,” he explains. “This is why the most important thing you can do is get feedback from others. Once there is some insight into intention and impact, coming up with more skillful behaviors is much more effective.”

And once they’ve started building up their emotional intelligence skills, project leaders must remember it’s an ongoing job.

“Oftentimes, managers participate in a two-day learning program and then are sent back to the high-pressure environments where there is no follow-up and no way to ‘cement’ the learning,” he says. “If repetition and accountability are not built into the learning process, under pressure, [project managers] return to their default behaviors. A great place to start in accountability is having a conversation with your manager about where you want to improve, and then enlisting the manager in the process.”

Project managers should try not to lapse into old habits when the going gets tough.

Unfortunately, when deadlines increase the pressure, project managers often stop coaching and start pushing. “Over time, with increasingly more to do and fewer resources to do it with, we focus more on what we need to do as opposed to what our direct [reports] need, and what the business needs in the long run, which is [to] grow their capability,” Mr. Pawliw-Fry says. “Team members feel like we are not coaching enough, and we feel like we are doing all we can with what we have. Most of us are blind to this sort of impact and wonder why our direct reports aren’t as committed as we are.”

Cultural Clarity

Differing cultures can undoubtedly complicate team communications and increase frustration. But that can often be mitigated if the team manager has a strong emotional intelligence, explains Germán Bernate, founder and general manager of Bogotá, Colombia-based project management consulting firm Almagesto and past president of the PMI Santafé de Bogotá Chapter.

“Those with a higher emotional intelligence are more likely to learn from the culturally influenced points of view by truly listening and applying empathy to understand their perspective and position,” he says. “After you learn [about culturally diverse team members’ customs, perspective and ideas], it is also an opportunity to teach your team members the value of your perspective.”

Additionally, the patience emotional intelligence yields can make a project manager less likely to jump to conclusions about his or her own map of the world, explains Beryl Comar, principal of Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based Beryl Comar Fowler & Associates, a business training, coaching and consultancy organization.