Six emotional leadership styles daniel goleman

Leadership

The Relevance of Emotional Intelligence in Project Leadership

Genna Preston, Jayet Moon, Ryan Simon, Shayna Allen, Edem Kossi

Project Management program Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

gp365@drexel.edu, jayetmoon@gmail.com, rjs398@drexel.edu, sma84@drexel.edu,

edemcy@gmail.com

Abstract

The Emotional Intelligence School of Leadership Styles major paper invites readers to

uncover the six different styles of leadership that compose the school. The paper identifies and

summarizes the following styles: Visionary, Coaching, Affiliative, Democratic, Pacesetting, and

Commanding. Additionally the paper outlines the positives and negatives associated with each

style of leadership as well as provides an example of those styles in use. Lastly, the paper

concludes with the literature review and synopsis of how these styles can be effectively integrated

into modern project management.

Introduction

Leadership is defined as, the power or ability to lead other people (Bass,1960). Project

leadership is defined as, the ability to persuade others to enthusiastically and diligently pursue the

projects objective (Salovey & Mayer, 1989). A project is always evolving dynamically and

likewise, project leadership is situational. In a project, the leader is required to have cognitive,

social, and emotional intelligence in order to assess the situational and organizational needs and

adjust the pace of leadership accordingly (Mayer, Caruso & Salovey, 1989).

Emotional intelligence is defined by Salovey and Mayer (1989) as the subset of social

intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own, and others feelings and emotions, to

discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s own thinking and actions. For

Journal of IT and Economic Development 6(1), 16-40, April 2015 17

a long time emotional dimension of leadership was associated with the Visionary or Charismatic

School of Leadership (Popper & Zakkai, 1994). Since the mid 1990’s, emotional intelligence has

established itself as a leadership competence in its own right, as well as numerous books,

publications, and exploratory studies, that lend credence and justify its importance. Goleman

(1998) first synthesized and presented this idea of a new school, and it soon found its way into

mainstream acceptance.

Great leaders are the ones who drive people to deliver optimum performance. A critical

way of doing this is by tapping into employees emotions while taking control of self-emotions.

Leading and performing is not easy under pressure, more so in a project with hard deadlines. The

ability to manage self and teams emotions, as well as connect to the emotions that drive their

behaviors is a competency that is necessary in a modern project leader.

According to the proponents of the emotional intelligence school, the emotional

intelligence of the leader has greater impact on leadership skills and consequently the team

performance than his intellectual capacity. Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee (2002) identify four

dimensions of emotional intelligence.

1. Self-Awareness

2. Self-Management

3. Social Awareness

4. Relationship Management

Of these, 1&2 lie in the domain of personal competence while 3&4 lie in social competence

domain. Personal competence translates to, having understandings of ones strengths, weaknesses,

motives, and values, while at the same time having attributes like transparency, self-control,

Journal of IT and Economic Development 6(1), 16-40, April 2015 18

initiative, and optimism (Avolio & Zakkai,1994). Social competence means empathy, awareness,

and ability to understand and fulfill customer needs. Relationship management is an important part

of social competence which involves influencing people, navigating conflicts, and ensuring team

building and bonding. Based on such a distribution, there are six leadership styles:

1. Visionary

2. Coaching

3. Affiliative

4. Democratic

5. Pacesetting

6. Commanding

Each style of leadership can be matched with a stage, and phase of a project as shown. This is an

indicative generalization, and it is the prerogative of the project manager as to which style he/she

adopts in each phase, such that most efficient performance is realized.

Style Suggested Phase

Visionary Initialization

Coaching Planning

Affiliative Planning

Democratic Execution

Pacesetting Monitoring & Control

Commanding Closure

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The styles listed above impact the organizational climate and culture since, leadership and

management commitment directly translates to employee commitment, responsibility, task, goal

orientation, and clarity of purpose (Detailed chart available in Appendix A).

The sections below detail each of these styles in detail with their positives and negatives

and examples of implementation. Some examples illustrate versatile leaders who show different

styles, while some use a certain style as base and work within that boundary, transgressing it as

the need dictates.

Visionary

The first style from the emotional intelligence school of leadership that we will analyze is

the visionary leadership style. According to Dictionary.com (n.d), a vision is defined as, an

experience in which a personage, thing, or event appears vividly or credibly to the mind, although

not actually present, often under the influence of a divine or other agency. A vision is something

imagined, and in business, it is where leaders of organizations imagine their organization to be at

some point in the future. The visionary leadership style is defined by Daniel Goleman as, the

leadership style where the “leader is inspiring in vision, and helps others to see how they can

contribute to this vision; allowing the leader and followers to move together toward a shared view

of the future,” (Toren, 2014). Daniel Goleman believes after many of his research studies, the

visionary leadership style is the most effective one (Mersino, 2013).

Visionary Positives

The first advantage is the ability of the project leader to help others see their contribution

in the big picture. This is perhaps the most important aspect of the visionary leadership style; this

can help motivate the project team during the project life cycle, and this motivation can contribute

to the success for the project. Project Team members would have the great benefit of knowing

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that what they do is important. The second advantage is that, visionaries can describe the end goals

on a project, and leave the individuals plenty of latitude on how to achieve them (Mersino, 2013).

This tactic can be beneficial to a project team that is made of skill workers or experts who are in

this situation, given the ability to use their expertise to successfully complete this project. Lastly,

a project leader with a visionary style can help a project team easily navigate various changes in a

project. In fact, visionary leaders thrive on change and the ability to draw new boundaries (Mark,

2012).

Visionary Negatives

In a project, a visionary leadership style can suffer from poor articulated visions. Because

this style takes advantage of the project team members’ ability to connect personally to the leader’s

vision, there may be a disadvantage if the leader is unable to articulate his or her vision. This may

lead to the opposite results with disconnected and unmotivated team members. Also, a project

manager might face a similar situation if he has many senior people or experts reporting to him.

In this situation, the vision casting by the manager may fall flat to resonate with the project team

(Mersino, 2013). Finally, this style may also have some disadvantages if the project leader is full

of great visions, but lack the necessary details to carry out his visions.

Visionary Example

One example of effective leaders who employ the visionary leadership is Dr. Martin Luther

King Jr. Dr. King had a vision that he was able to channel to millions of people decades ago; his

visions are still being deployed today. Through his “I have a dream” speech and his non-violent

acts, he was able to connect his vision to millions people, and to help them understand how they

fit into the end result, when it comes to humanity and human rights (Toren, 2014).

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Visionary Summary

The visionary leadership style, which is a style of leadership that are inspires visions, can

be very effective for project leaders. Visionary leadership qualities help their project teams

understand the true objectives and goals, as well as, how their contributions are important to

achieve these goals. It helps to organically motivate the project team

Pacesetting The next leadership style that a project manager may use while executing a project is

known as pacesetting. As defined in the Wall Street Journal Online article, Leadership Styles

(Murphy, 2011), the pacesetting style is one in which “the leader sets high standards for

performance. He or she is obsessive about doing things better and faster, and asks the same of

everyone”. The pacesetting method allows for mangers with a mastery of certain tasks to exemplify

his or her mastery over those tasks in the hopes that the supporting project team will gain mastery

through osmosis. When utilized, this type of leadership style presents a variety of positives and

negatives in relation to achieving overall success of a project’s desired outcome. Below is an

examination of those positives and negatives as well as an example of the pacesetting leadership

style in action.

Pacesetting Positives The pacesetting leadership style is one of fast action. As described in the Money-zine.com

article, Pacesetting Leaders, “one of the pros of the pacesetting leadership style is they are able to

quickly achieve business results” (Money-zine, 2006). The reason behind the fast results of this

style is because the project manager has great aptitude in the work that is being done. Thus, the

project manager embarks on a lead by example approach and, expects that the team has the same

aptitude and motivation for the project as he or she does. Creating a high energy team, that is

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challenged to constantly progress at the rate of the manger and allowing for project results to occur

at a rapid pace. Pacesetting is an excellent leadership style to use at the beginning of a project, as

you are able to build momentum off of the excitement surrounding a new endeavor. It is an

effective style to use to achieve the first few milestones of a project in short order.

Pacesetting Negatives While pacesetting is excellent at achieving short-term goals, this leadership style can have

a long-term negative impact on a project team. Primarily, this style of leadership is conducive for

employees to burn out. Burn out occurs from the team being unable to sustain the same enthusiasm,

drive, and competency of the project manager. The Changing Minds.org article, Six Emotional

Leadership Styles, points out that pacesetting leaders, “tend to be low on guidance, expecting

people to know what to do” (Goleman, 2002). Thus the pacesetting style not only demands

constant amounts of high energy from its team but also it demands self-correction and self-

sufficiency of its team. This type of environment causes increased stress levels as any member

who struggles in a task will quickly fall behind the pace of the remainder of the team and will not

have any guidance on how to take corrective measures.

Pacesetting Example Pacesetting leaders are typically found in military settings, however, the Money-zine.com

article, Pacesetting Leadership, provides businessman Jack Welch as an example of person who

primarily implemented this leadership style (Pacesetting Leaders, 2006). Welch served as CEO for

General Electric from 1981 to 2001. During his time as CEO, Welch would interact with

employees at all levels of the organization as he believed “that leaders should avoid micro-

managing, and spend their time inspiring others”(Pacesetting Leaders, 2006). Welch was

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accessible to his employees, however, he was also demanding of them expecting the highest of

results while disposing of those who were unable to keep up.

Pacesetting Summary In conclusion the pacesetting leadership style is one that is best served in small doses. It

serves to help launch a project or to help complete a project within a tight time frame. However,

the style will wear thin on the team if utilized to often, as pressure builds and people are left feeling

burnt out and left behind.

Coaching The next leadership style from the emotional intelligence school of leadership to be

examined is coaching. The coaching style as defined in the Jeff Hodgkinson article, Leadership

Styles for Program and Project Managers, is when the project manager “instructs and motivates

others to enhance their skills to achieve maximum impact for the team and project” (Hodgkinson,

2009). The coaching style puts the project manager in a mentoring role in relation to the project

team. However, the coaching style isn’t mentoring in the truest sense; the needs of the project

outweigh the needs of personal development or growth of a project team member. That being said,

ideally the coaching style would be implemented with a team member that is inexperienced in a

certain aspect of a project, which he or she is assigned so that the goals of the project, and the

personal growth objects of the team member are aligned.

Coaching Positives The coaching style is designed to cultivate a project member’s professional skill set. It is a

relationship that is very similar to that of a teacher and student, with the project manager serving

in the role of the teacher. Deidre Harris’ article, Project Leadership Styles notes, a project manager

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utilizing the coaching technique “challenges all to do better and is encouraging when any failure

is present” (Harris, 2009). By utilizing this technique an environment that is based on

encouragement and empathy is created, allowing for team members to approach project goals

without trepidation. The warm working environment that is born from this leadership style spurs

the creation of more substantial inter-personal relationship amongst manger and team member.

Trust is thus established within this style, and a trusting environment leads to productive

environment, working towards self-improvement, as well as project success.

Coaching Negatives The drawbacks behind utilizing the coaching leadership style are that it is very time

consuming and that it runs the risk of being viewed as micromanagement, if not executed properly

with the proper audience. In order to create a high level of trust and to teach in a project

management setting, a large quantity of time is required for the project manager to devote to

individual members. This time commitment isn’t feasible for projects with hard and fast deadlines,

nor is it feasible on a project with a large project team. Additionally, this style is only conducive

with a project member that is willing to learn and improve his or her craft. A Money-zine.com

article aptly details, “if someone is managing employees that are extremely resistant to change, or

are not interested in learning new things, the manager will struggle if they choose this style”

(Coaching Leadership, 2006). Thus it is essential for a project manager to understand the make-up

of the team, and the time constraints of the project before implementing this strategy.

Coaching Example Not surprisingly, the best examples of the coaching leadership style come from the realm

of sports. Being that all sport teams require a manger or coach in order to execute a strategy to

meet an objective through a temporary endeavor; the match or game. It is easy to make the

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connection between sports and project management. That is not to say that all sports coaches or

managers utilize the leadership style of coaching, as they in fact do not, but it is meant to set the

stage for a true example of this leadership style in action. Red Holzman was an NBA coach that

achieved success in the league by winning multiple NBA titles, but perhaps his greatest success

was his mentoring and development of his one-time player Phil Jackson. Jackson developed into

one of the NBA’s all-time greatest coaches. The article Inspired by Holzman, Jackson Arrives in

Springfield, beautifully depicts the Holzman-Jackson relationship, and provides the following

quote from Jackson regarding his former coach; “Red took me under his wing, he didn't have an

assistant coach, he made me his assistant coach and taught the game to me and taught me a lot

about the game and encouraged me to go into coaching” (Hareas, 2007).

Coaching Summary

In summation, the coaching leadership style is a one that can be applied in any type of

situation but is most beneficial in situations that have loose time constraints and eager team

members. Coaching aims to give a team member the skills to succeed in a current project as well

as cultivate skills that will serve beyond the context of a project, granted that it doesn’t divert too

much attention away from the project. It aligns personal goals with project goals and provides

constructive feedback, but has the potential to be viewed as overbearing to members unreceptive

to change and constant feedback. It is a leadership style that should be implemented when possible,

but will not always be appropriate, especially within highly demanding situations that have short

deadlines and oversized teams.

Democratic

Another leadership style within this school is the democratic leadership style, also known

as the participative style. This style is, “an open approach to leading, where decision making is

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shared and the views of a team or group are valued and contribute to the vison, goals and decision

that are made” (Democratic Leadership Style, 2013). This allows members of the teams to feel

included and impactful in several stages of a project. With this style of leadership offering equality

of power, and group decision making, it is imperative that it is used in the right situation or task

(Detailed example available in Appendix B).

Democratic Positives

Democratic leadership brings teams together. With technology capabilities many

organizations are outsourcing or working remotely. Democratic leaders bring individuals together

in order for everyone to give their thoughts, ask questions, and be involved in the entire project

and its processes. The inclusion of many opinions may offer a different insight or thought that you

may have missed. This shows team members they are valued, and allows for everyone to have a

clear understanding of the vision and goals of the project (Democratic Leadership Style, 2013).

A democratic leader provides intrinsic motivation for their team. Research has proven that

intrinsic motivation is a precursor to creativity and innovation, and by offering democratic

leadership, individuals will satisfy their four motivators; sense of meaningfulness, sense of choice,

sense of competence, and sense of progress. By satisfying these needs, individuals will be

intrinsically motivated to go above and beyond any project or task assigned, as well as assist their

organization in becoming front runners within their industry (Mahmood A. Bodla, 2014).

Democratic Negatives

A democratic leader is a great assets to any team however, the democratic leadership style

comes with some negatives as well. One of the major problems with this style is that is very time

consuming. With the inclusion of many different people it may take a longer period of time to

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come to an agreement, receive a response, or communicate effectively. This also effects crisis

management. During crises especially, time is of the essence, and in situations where decision need

to be made right then and there, it just is not possible to lead democratically and include everyone

in the plans (Ryan, 2015).

When applying democratic leadership, it is important to still identify yourself as the leader.

Unfortunately, sometimes group members may misinterpret this style with lack of leadership or

bad job performance. Individuals may also feel it is not their place to make decisions, or they do

not have enough experience offering suggestions or their opinions. Also, sometimes when opinions

are offered time after time, but never implemented or acted upon, team members may feel deceived

or manipulated, which will ultimately negatively affect employee morale, outcomes, and success

(Cosmato, 2011). If managerial boundaries, and roles are not followed and respected, democratic

leaders may experience negative results using this method of leadership.

Democratic Example Civil Rights activist Rosa parks is a great example of a democratic leader. Although many

people before Parks were arrested for ignoring racial boundaries and laws, Rosa Parks became the

face of the civil rights movement. Supporters followed her as she led, collaborated, and acted upon

change within the United States. She valued other people’s opinions, challenges, and treated

everyone as an equal. Not only did she help change American law and policies, she did it

effortlessly and democratically.

Democratic Summary

When used properly and productively, the democratic leadership style has many positive

qualities and attributes. By allowing individuals to participate in the entire project and processes,

it offers a sense of satisfaction, belonging, and accomplishment. This leadership style has been

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directly connected to organizational success and achieved goals. As leaders continue to engage in

this style, projects and organizations continue to excel and achieve successful outcomes.

Commanding The commanding leader is a strong, authoritative individual who forcefully commands

orders and tasks. A commanding leader will communicate honestly, and let you know if you are

not progressing or working satisfactory (Larry Richard, 2008). This person holds all of the power,

and will make changes and decisions without his or her subordinate’s. Although this leadership

style has some positives attributes, it is comprised of more negative effects, and should be used

with caution and only during demanding times (Coercive Leadership, 2014).

Commanding Positives This leader gets the job done! Fear is instilled upon team members which drives them to

use their full potential; ultimately achieving their goals. This leadership style is most effective

during times of crises; internal or external (Six Emotional Leadership Styles, 2015). Because this

leader gets the job, it will allow organizations to bounce back in times of crisis. This leadership

style is also beneficial during organizational change, because he or she is the leader, and

“encourages action, activity, and work” (Sloane, 2013). Leaders that command, extrinsically

motivate their staff by offering rewards, based on performance and outcomes (Sloane, 2013).

Commanding Negatives

The commanding leader may negatively affect creativity and innovation. Team members

do not feel a sense of meaningfulness or a sense of choice. This lack of inclusion will hinder

intrinsic motivation; intrinsic motivation encourages individuals to succeed through self-

satisfaction. Commanding limits intelligent thinking, team work, and disregards team experience

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and capabilities (Hughes, 2013). Team members will respond negatively to this style, if it used all

of the time. If leaders are feared and unapproachable, team members may feel insubordinate to

offer information that may be valuable or beneficial to a particular situation. "Beware that in the

long run it may result in employees passively resisting, rebelling or leaving altogether”

(Leadership Style, 2015).

• Today’s workforce does not accept the autocratic style often adopted by leaders following historical models of leadership.

• Leadership has had to evolve to match a growing sense of democracy and independence in the workforce

• Employees now have far more options and choices than the foot soldiers of yesterday, (Childs, 2004).

With that said, we can see why it is imperative to only use the commanding leadership style during

necessary times of crises. Also, because of ever-changing times, and a diverse group of team

members, practicing emotional intelligence will only benefit your team’s organization and

outcomes.

Commanding Example A great example of a commanding leader is America’s military organizations; army, navy,

air force, national guard, etc. Depending on their rank and institutional standing within the

organization, individuals control, direct, and order groups and teams daily. Commanders,

sergeants, and lieutenants disregard their subordinates and demand authority and cooperation.

Fear, respect, and obedience are demanded in the beginning, and these principals are passed

throughout the different divisions of the military.

Commanding Summary Although this leader will get the job done, it is important to use this method sparingly.

Demanding and commanding attitudes will benefit your organization in times or change and crises.

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Leaders of the world use this style while when they want to quickly establish authority and

organizational goals.

Affiliative The affiliative leadership style is another style within the emotional intelligence group of

leadership styles. Affiliative leaders create emotional bonds and harmony (Leadership That Gets

Results, 2000). This particular style of leadership works best when there are disagreements among

team members. This leadership style is also most effective when team members need motivation

during stressful circumstances.

Affiliative Positives

The affiliative leadership style places an emphasis on placing value on individuals, rather

than centering on goals and objectives. An affiliative leader has the innate ability to forge strong

emotional bonds with others, leading to immense loyalty from the individual. Building strong

relationships between others, sets a solid foundation to establish positive team chemistry

(Leadership That Gets Results, 2000). With a harmonious group, communication becomes smooth

and amiable; members are willing to engage in productive conversation with one another, ideas

are traded back and forth, companionship increases, and positive feedback becomes abundant and

consistent. A sense of belonging is felt, and this allows for a positive work environment, strong

loyalty and very high-spirited employees (Leadership That Gets Results, 2014).

Along with this style, autonomy amongst workers is increased, predominantly driven by

the trust that members have with one another that the work and task will get done no matter the

process used. Affiliative leaders help harbor that flexibility as unnecessary rigid structures are not

imposed on the employees (Smith, 2014). Workers have the ability to use the most efficient method

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for them in order to complete their work, which, in turn can lead to reduced pressure and more

favorable performance results.

One of the greatest qualities of an affiliative leader is the ability to drive motivation among

members through solid and consistent feedback. Although commentary remains largely

constructive and positive, this empowers the workers and increases their sense of value. This is

very imperative today as Millennials begin to take over the corporate landscape. Per a 2014 article

by Business Insider, CEO of Twilio, Jeff Lawson, discusses how Millennials enjoys consistent

feedback (Smith, 2014). This generation is accustomed to quick gratification given the world of

technology they were raised in, and the ample feedback provided allows them to keep tabs on their

performance so there aren’t any surprises (Smith, 2014). Combining that with an Affiliative leader

who will communicate nothing but positive and encouraging remarks, the motivational level with

employees will soar.

Affiliative Negatives

While this leadership style is very effective at building a positive work environment and

group culture, there are some downfalls when this style is over utilized. Since Affiliative leaders

predominately remain constructive in the feedback they provide, under-performing workers tend

to go unrecognized, which thereafter, fosters mediocrity. These deficient workers will start to

become content with their performance, as affiliative leaders leave these issues unaddressed, and

indirectly, their poor output is condoned (Money-zine n.d.). Deficient workers lack the clear

direction that is needed in order to course-correct, thus they must rely on themselves in order to

improve their performance. This can lead to an overall drag on the group’s performance, cause a

disruption in the harmony, and ultimately lead to failure.

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The affiliative leadership style should mainly be reserved when building a team together

to create a harmonious balance and positive chemistry amongst members. This style is ideal when

there is a lack of communication or when trusts needs to be mended. Leaders who rely on this style

will run eventually into issues with meeting overall performance targets since it focuses on the

mental and emotional health of the group. In order to appropriately sustain a healthy and productive

team, it is suggested that this style be combined with other styles, such as the authoritative

leadership style (Leadership That Gets Results, 2000). An authoritative leader will establish clear

direction in order to maintain goals, and help workers understand their role in helping the

organization meet its objectives. With appropriate execution on combining the affiliative and

authoritative leadership styles, the stage is set for establishing an environment of committed and

driven workers producing outsized performance (Smith, 2014).

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Affiliative Example

A classic example of an affiliative leader is the ex-manager of the New York Yankees, Joe

Torre. As manager for such a prominent team in baseball, Joe Torre had many ego-centric players

to manage. Through all of this Joe Torre managed to hold the team together while building a sense

of harmony among the teammates (Money-zine, n.d.). Joe Torre would recognize the contributions

of individual players and express his gratitude for them. This method of leading created an overall

cohesiveness that allowed the Yankees to be as successful as they were (Money-zine, 2014)