The effect of leader emotional intelligence on leader–follower chemistry: a study of construction project managers

Abstract

Extending Nicolini's (2002) notion of project 'chemistry', this paper proposes the development of a 'leader-follower chemistry' model associated with the quality of dyadic interpersonal communication in construction projects. The paper focuses on the project manager as leader and attempts to deepen understanding of the effect of a project manager's Emotional Intelligence (EI) on the quality of interpersonal communication with their followers-being other members of the project team. While a project manager's EI, with its associated emotional competencies, is often seen as critical in achieving good relationships with members of the project team, it remains a largely understudied concept, particularly in construction projects. Primary data collected using a series of analytical surveys and live observations of site-based projects meetings were used to examine the relationship between a project manager's emotional competencies, particularly sensitivity and expressiveness, and leaderfollower chemistry. Overall, 68 construction professionals participated in the study. The findings suggest that a project manager's emotional sensitivity and expressiveness (particularly head gestures) may explain variance in the quality of leader-follower chemistry. Based on the empirical evidence in the context of team communication, a leader-follower chemistry model is introduced, which emphasises the importance of leaders' emotional sensitivity and expressiveness in a leader-follower communication dyad. The model may be particularly salient in complex project networks with a large number of prominent actors.

Propositions for utilising emotional intelligence in construction organisations

“…EI has been suggested to be the 'sin qua non' of leadership (Walter et al 2011), has been generally accepted as essential for effective interpersonal relationships (Pryke et al 2015;Caruso and Salovey 2004), and is relevant in building productive project relationships (Druskat and Druskat 2006). Thus, the concept has been brought to view in construction project management textbooks and analysed in a small number of research articles published in construction journals.…”

“…There is a dearth of general understanding about EI in the construction industry (Pryke et al 2015;Zhang and Fan 2013) and the constant debates on the relevance and the application of EI for construction professionals/ project managers (Mischung et al 2015;Lindebaum and Cassell 2012), signify that the area still requires further development in relation to the context of construction. Although the predominance of a positivist approach into investigating the concept has been identified as one of the possible drawbacks of its development (Lawani 2016), more minutiae in relation to the utilization and practical benefits of EI is still required.…”

“…Furthermore, even though construction project management literature emphasises the need to explore leadership skills in the construction industry (Ozorhon et al 2013;Toor and Ofori 2008), scholars have stressed the consistent unwillingness of construction professionals to embrace the Emotional Intelligence concept (Mischung, J.J. et al 2015), along with an under-exploration of the concept in the construction industry (Pryke et al 2015;Zhang and Fan 2013). Highlighting this point is the overview of EI in construction project management by Lawani (2016), which identified a total of only 24 articles.…”

Digital Technology to Enhance Project Leadership Practice: The Case of Civil Construction

“…The study reveals how "Positive Meaning" (creating something), "Positive Emotions" (humour and optimism), "Positive Relations" (collaboration) and "Signature Strengths" (emotional intelligence) can create positive results within a project. These emotional elements play a major role in the development and trajectory of relationships within project settings (Pryke et al 2015).…”

The impact of project managers’ competencies, emotional intelligence and transformational leadership on project success in the information technology sector

“…Researchers (Pryke, Lunic, & Badi, 2015;Rehman, 2011;Sunindijo, Hadikusumo, & Ogunlana, 2007) have concluded that emotional intelligence is valuable in a leader-devotee correspondence as it prompts project execution. Rezvani et al (2016) found a significant relationship between project managers' emotional intelligence and project success with the mediating role of job satisfaction and trust in the Australian Defense industry.…”