The 4 Building Blocks of Emotional Intelligence (Part 1): Know Thyself

Emotional intelligence (or emotional quotient, EI or EQ) is widely viewed as a skill that leaders need to master to deliver results through others. According to Harvard Business School (HBS) Online, EI is the ability to understand and manage your emotions, as well as recognize and influence the emotions of those around you. The phrase was first used in 1990 by researchers John Mayer and Peter Salovey, and later popularized by psychologist Daniel Coleman.

In addition, according to the United States National Institute of Health (NIH), as of 2019 there were more than 30 different measures of EI. The NIH distinguishes between ability EI, which measures constructs related to an individual’s theoretical understanding of emotions and emotional function; and trait EI, which measures typical behaviors in emotion-relevant situations.

Quite honestly, much of the theory about EI and how it’s measured is pretty heady stuff and, unless you’re an EI wonk, you probably won’t take the time to make sense of it. My purpose in writing about the topic is to break it down to its core elements, apply it to the project management discipline, and help PMs be more effective at getting stuff done through others.

EI is what we as PMs do as a core job discipline; PMs need to focus on and master it early in their careers. I boil EI down to four crucial building blocks, as follows:

Read more at ProjectManagement.com.

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