THE EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT LEADER: RESOLVING CONFLICT AND BOOSTING TEAM PERFORMANCE IN PROJECT

Abstract

In the modern fluid and cross-functional projects, Emotional Intelligence (EI) has become a critical leadership characteristic that greatly contributes to the dynamics of the group and results. The current emphasis is on the importance of emotional intelligence on project managers to enhance the performance of the team and conflict mitigation, through the mediating effect of relationship management (RM). Using quantitative research design, 200 project team members on varied industry (i.e. IT, construction and engineering) were interviewed to collect information. He measured and measured emotional intelligence, team performance, conflict management and relationship management using standard scales. Reasonable Results The results of the structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated a good and significant positive effect of emotional intelligence with regard to the amount of performance within a group (beta = 0.42, p < 0.001) and in resolving issues (beta = 0.47, p < 0.001). In addition, relationship management plays a potent mediating role in the EI and the two outcome variables, such as team performance ( 2 6, p < 0.001) and conflict resolution ( 2 4, p < 0.001). These results indicate that project managers who possess a high degree of emotional intelligence, especially in the areas of relationship management, will lead to more tightly knit, more motivated and more highly performing teams also doing a good job of avoiding the problem of the interpersonal conflict level. The research fills the literature gap in the field of project management and leadership, as it is an empirical presentation and proving of a strategic value of emotional intelligence in contributing to the team effectiveness and the culture of collaborative work.