Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers: The People Skills You Need to Achieve Outstanding Results

273 Pages·2007·6.87 MB·English

by  Mersino A.C.

Emotional
Intelligence
for Project
Managers
The People Skills You Need
to Achieve Outstanding
Results
ANTHONY C. MERSINO
American Management Association
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mersino, Anthony C.
Emotional intelligence for project managers : the people skills you need to
achieve outstanding results / Anthony Mersino.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8144-7416-7
ISBN-10: 0-8144-7416-0
1. Project management—Psychological aspects. 2. Emotional intelligence.
3. Teams in the workplace—Management. I. Title.
HD69.P75M475 2007
658.4'04019—dc22 2007008599
© 2007 Anthony C. Mersino
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in
part, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of AMACOM, a division of American Management Associa-
tion, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.
Printing number
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
(cid:2) PART ONE
An Introduction to Emotional Intelligence 1
1 My Growth in Emotional Intelligence 3
A Dangerous Situation 3
Emotional Mastery for Project Managers 5
Project Management Is Competitive 6
What Is Emotional Intelligence? 8
Measuring Your Emotional Intelligence 9
The Good News About Emotional Intelligence 11
Applying Emotional Intelligence to Project Management 12
Emotional Intelligence Is Vital to Project Managers 16
2 A Brief Primer on Emotional Intelligence 19
The Popularity of Emotional Intelligence 19
Some Useful Definitions 20
How to Improve Your Understanding of Emotional
Intelligence Concepts 28
Learning About Emotional Intelligence Is Only the
First Step 29
iii
iv
Contents
(cid:2) PART TWO
Project Management Begins with
Self-Management 31
3 Self-Awareness 33
Introduction to Self-Awareness 33
Emotional Self-Awareness 35
Accurate Self-Assessment 44
Self-Confidence 45
Techniques to Improve Your Self-Awareness 46
4 Self-Management 52
The Emotional Intelligence Model for
Project Management 53
Self-Control 55
Techniques to Improve Our Self-Management 75
Additional Techniques for Self-Control and
Self-Management 77
(cid:2) PART THREE
Building Project Stakeholder Relationships 81
5 Social Awareness 83
An Introduction to Social Awareness 83
Empathy 86
Seeing Others Clearly 92
Organizational Awareness 97
Emotional Boundaries 102
Techniques for Improving Our Social Awareness 106
6 Relationship Management 111
An Introduction to Relationship Management 111
Stakeholder Relationships 116
Developing Others 130
Telling the Truth 136
Additional Principles of Relationship Building 143
Techniques for Managing Relationships on Projects 149
v
Contents
(cid:2) PART FOUR
Using EQ to Lead Project Teams 155
7 Project Team Leadership 157
Introduction to Project Team Leadership 157
Communications 159
Conflict Management 167
Inspirational Leadership 174
Additional Considerations for Team Leaders 176
Techniques for Improving Project Team Leadership 185
8 Creating a Positive Team Environment 188
What Makes a Great Project Team 188
How PMs Set the Tone and Direction for the Project 191
The Team Within the Team 199
Techniques for Creating a Positive Team Environment 201
9 Leveraging Emotional Intelligence on Large and
Complex Projects 205
Are You Ready to Lead Large and Complex Projects? 205
Characteristics of Large and Complex Projects 206
Concerns for Large-Scale Project Managers 207
Applying Different Leadership Styles 209
Applying Emotional Intelligence to Virtual Project Teams 218
Emotional Intelligence Techniques for Large and
Complex Projects 222
Epilogue 225
Appendixes 227
A Emotional Tally Sheet 229
B Emotional Intelligence Assessment Checklist 232
C Stakeholder Management Tool 234
D Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) 237
E Emotional Intelligence Movies and Scenes 238
F Magazines and Journals on Emotional Intelligence 240
G Books on Emotional Intelligence 242
H Training Sources for Emotional Intelligence 243
vi
Contents
I Emotional Intelligence Web Sites 245
J Emotional Intelligence Assessment Instruments 246
K Results of the 2005 Survey of Emotional Intelligence in PMs 249
Index 257
Acknowledgments
Writing a book was a lot more work than I imagined, and it is not something
that I could have done on my own. I am extremely grateful to all those people
who graciously invested their time and energy to help me with my personal
growth and with this book.
The support of two published authors eventually convinced me to start
writing. Jim Taylor gave me the idea to write on emotional intelligence and
project management. Rajesh Setty was instrumental in pointing out that I
was better off to begin writing than to continue planning to write.
Rich Blue and Nancy Rollins of the Center for Life Enrichment taught
me about emotions and how to recognize what I was feeling. I am particu-
larly grateful to Rich for his unwavering belief and constant encouragement
during my personal growth work over the last five years. Two wonderful
support groups at CLE taught me about relationships and pushed me to do
my very best. My coed group included Meredith, Laura, Beth, Tom, Jo,
Mike, Kim, Jane, and Barry. Ramp it up, guys! My men’s group included Tim,
Barry, Rick, Bill, Cortney, Stephen, Tim, Neale, Dennis, and Jim. My brother
Ted also helped me to define how to apply emotional intelligence to project
management.
My editor, Christina Parisi, was a tremendous help in writing some-
thing that made sense to others. Steve Cohn was also a great coach and an
inspiration during the writing process. Jim Friel, Chris Samp, Don Knapp,
Barbara Brown, and various others read early chapters and provided valuable
feedback and encouragement.
vii
viii
Acknowledgments
I would be remiss not to recognize the great support of my home team.
My children, Jack and Krista, gave me the space and support to work at home.
And most of all, my wife, Norma, was helpful in too many ways to list here.
Thank you for our unwavering belief in me and your support while I was
working on this. I love you!
Finally, thanks to God for the ability to write and for the desire to learn
and grow and become a better person. With God, all things are possible.
1
P A R T
An
Introduction
to Emotional
Intelligence