I came across an article from TechRepublic titled 5 Project Management Trends to Watch in 2018, and at No. 5 was “Recruiting for emotional intelligence”.   Perhaps, but EI (emotional intelligence) has always been a core component of the effective Project Manager.  For those unaware in 1990 Psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer published their landmark article, “Emotional Intelligence,” in the journal Imagination, Cognition, and Personality presenting a comprehensive theory and it is they who are credited with coining the term “EI”.  Daniel Goleman became aware of Salovey and Mayer’s work in the early 1990s and went on to write Emotional Intelligence in 1995 followed by Working with Emotional Intelligence in 1998.  Last Spring PMI published “The Impact of Emotional Intelligence, Project Managers’ Competencies, and Transformational Leadership on Project Success” which supports the hypothesis that project managers exercising transformational leadership styles (EI) are better performers and thus contribute to project success. Transformational leaders are inspirational: they lead their teams; inspire their employees; stimulate awareness and interests; foster confidence; and endeavor to drive their teams’ concerns, growth, and achievements.   A deep diver can be found at Amazon from Anthony Mersino’s work titled, “Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers: The People Skills You Need to Achieve Outstanding Results”.

– Prof. Dr. Te Wu, the founder Project Management training firm PMO Advisory is among the few people in the world certified in Project (PMP), Program (PgMP), Portfolio (PfMP), and Risk Management (PMI-RMP).