OL 421 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric Overview .docx

OL 421 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
You will complete a capstone that integrates the knowledge and
skills you have developed in the business core coursework and
over the duration of the term by
creating an executive summary that highlights the performance
of your company from the Capsim simulation. The executive
summary is your opportunity to
show your knowledge of the organization, products, and
business functions—skills that professionals in this field must
possess. You will also reflect on your
journey through the business core and how you plan to position
yourself both professionally and in your upcoming program of
study. This personal and
professional reflection will specifically focus on business
communication skills, professional etiquette, and peer-to-peer
and peer-to-leader collaboration.
Evaluation of Capstones
This capstone will be assessed somewhat differently than other
courses you have taken online at SNHU. There are two separate
components, which will be
evaluated as a unit in determining whether you have
demonstrated proficiency in each outcome. Your instructor will
guide you through this process, keeping a
running narrative of your strengths and weaknesses in relation
to the outcomes as you progress through the class. Your work is
expected to meet the highest

professional standards.
This assessment will evaluate your mastery with respect to the
following outcomes:
iquette for
constructing personal and professional reflections in a variety
of business environments
-solving skills for enhancing
business success
informing strategic decision-making
improvement and enhancement strategies
-to-peer and peer-to-leader collaboration for
improving performance and decision making
arkets for informing future
business expansion choices
solving authentic business problems
Prompt
Since you just finished the Capsim simulation, compiled your
results, and are now looking to the future of your company, the
first component of your capstone
requires you to compose a company performance summary.
Imagine that this summary is for new members of the board of
directors of your company. It is

imperative that the board understand your company, its value,
and its development cycle over the last eight years. This is your
opportunity to exhibit your
knowledge of your organization, your products, and how your
business functions.
High-level business executives are often short on time, so it is
important that your summary is concisely written and rich in
content. As has been emphasized in
previous classes in the business core, effective business
communication, peer-to-peer and peer-to-leader collaboration,
and professional etiquette are
mandatory skills to have when entering today’s business world.
Because this is the last course in the business core, the second
component of your capstone
requires you to reflect on your use of business communication
skills, professional etiquette, and collaboration skills
throughout the Capsim simulation, this
course, and the previous courses you have taken in the business
core.
Capstone Component 1: Executive Summary
For the first of two capstone components, you will develop a
comprehensive, professional executive summary by analyzing
quantitative and qualitative tools,
analyzing strategic problem-solving skills, assessing any
ethical, legal, or social challenges that may be encountered,
analyzing global markets, and analyzing
entrepreneurial approaches. This executive summary will be
used to inform new members of the board of directors who must
become familiar with your

company.
The following sections should be included:
I. Progress of the Company. You should briefly bring the new
board members up to speed about the progress of your company
over the past eight years.
While it is not important to describe every change, be sure to
give an executive-level overview of the various products,
strategies, and performances.
II. Current Situation. Here, discuss the current situation of your
company by performing and analyzing a full SWOT analysis.
a) Strengths: Identify the strengths of the organization.
b) Weaknesses: Identify the weaknesses of the organization.
c) Opportunities: Identify potential opportunities the
organization should explore in order to expand.
d) Threats: Identify external factors that could negatively affect
the organization.
III. Future of the Company. Consider the results of your SWOT
analysis, and detail an approach you plan to take regarding your
top priority at the company.
Be sure to include any innovative or sustainable approaches in
your plan.
IV. Ethical, Legal, and Social Challenges. Discuss any ethical,
legal, or social challenges the company may have faced or could
face in the future, and suggest
strategies for how the company could overcome these
challenges.

V. Global Considerations. In this section, discuss what
necessary factors would need to be considered if the company
were to expand into the global
market. Consider the opportunities and threats outlined in the
SWOT analysis previously in order to analyze the greatest
advantages and disadvantages
to expanding this company into the global market.
Capstone Component 2: Professional Reflection
For the second and final component of your capstone, you will
compose a reflection in which you discuss the process and
outcomes of this project, as well as
how your coursework culminated in the capstone project. This
may include discussions of unforeseen problems or obstacles,
and any unexpected surprises. The
reflection should also discuss your identified strengths and
problems that you encountered while completing the capstone.
Finally, the reflection will examine
how the capstone project will be useful in the job market or in
furthering your education.
You should envision this component as a personal reflection on
the capstone and your experience in the business core program
as a whole. For instance, relative
to the capstone, you could discuss what you did (or intended to
do), and then consider what worked well, what challenges you
faced, and what you would
change or do differently to make your experience better. In

reflecting on your time in the business core program, you might
discuss where you started, where
you are, and where you see yourself going. Note that this
component is not about evaluating the capstone itself but rather
your experience within the capstone
project.
Some of the issues that you could address in this final
component of this capstone include the following:
simulation.
own experience at SNHU.
academic program?
academic and/or professional life?
in both this capstone course and throughout the business core
program?
your future classes here at SNHU and in the working world after
graduation?
-to-peer and peer-to-
leader collaboration in this capstone course.

-to-peer and peer-to-leader collaboration
influenced your performance and decision making in this class?
business etiquette in both this capstone course and throughout
the business program.
Final Project Rubric
This rubric will be applied to both components as a whole, and
no component will be assessed on its own.
The “Possible Indicators of Success” are examples for you and
the instructor of the types of concepts to look for to
demonstrate proficiency. They are neither
exhaustive nor proscriptive and should be used as guides for
illustrating how your capstone embodies the outcome. All
outcomes are weighted equally.
Guidelines for Submission: The submitted executive summary
should be comprehensive and adhere to best practices for
business writing. Be sure that your
writing is concise and appropriate for your target audience. Any
quoted, paraphrased, or borrowed information should be cited
according to the guidelines in
the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association (APA).
Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in
Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade
Center. For more information,
review these instructions.
http://snhu-

media.snhu.edu/files/production_documentation/formatting/caps
tone_rubric_feedback_instructions_student.pdf
OL-421-01: Demonstrate business communication skills and
etiquette for constructing personal and professional
reflections in a variety of business environments
Proficient
100%
Not Proficient
0%
Possible Indicators of Success
Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to reflect on
the importance of utilizing proper business
communication skills to be successful in the profession?
various business skills that support effective
communication?
Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to integrate
prior business knowledge into reflections?
Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to
demonstrate professional etiquette in written communication
in various business settings?

the importance of establishing and maintaining
professional etiquette in the business world?
OL-421-02: Analyze strategic problem-solving skills for
enhancing business success Proficient
100%
Not Proficient
0%
Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to analyze
the strengths of a company for enhancing business
success?
the weaknesses of a company for enhancing strategic
problem-solving and developing an approach to achieving
success?
the opportunities of a company for enhancing business
success?
the threats to a company for enhancing strategic
problem-solving and developing an approach to achieving
success?
OL-421-03: Analyze the use of quantitative and qualitative

tools for informing strategic decision-making Proficient
100%
Not Proficient
0%
qualitative tools, such as the progress of the product
over time, for developing sustainable approaches to success?
qualitative data, such as the analysis of the production
process for developing sustainable approaches to success?
market segmentation strategies for informing strategic
decision-making and developing an approach to achieving
success?
financial components for informing strategic decision-
making and developing an approach to achieving success?
total quality management (TQM) methods in human
resources?
OL-421-04: Assess ethical, legal, and social challenges for
suggesting improvement and enhancement strategies Proficient

100%
Not Proficient
0%
Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to formulate
approaches to overcoming ethical challenges of a
company?
Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to formulate
approaches to overcoming legal challenges of a
company?
Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to suggest
approaches to overcoming social challenges of a
company?
Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to suggest
appropriate and feasible improvement plans that
consider various ethical, legal, and social challenges?
OL-421-05: Assess peer-to-peer and peer-to-leader
collaboration for improving performance and decision making
Proficient
100%
Not Proficient

0%
collaborate with peers for improving performance and
establishing effective decision-making in business
environments?
Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to assess
how effective collaboration with peers may improve
performance and establish sound decision-making in business
environments?
collaborate with leaders for improving performance and
establishing sound decision-making?
Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to assess
how collaboration with leaders may improve
performance and decision making in various business
environments?
OL-421-06: Analyze global business markets for informing
future business expansion choices Proficient
100%
Not Proficient
0%

Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to identify
considerations for expanding the company into the
global market?
Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to consider
the advantages and disadvantages of expanding
globally?
Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to draw
conclusions from a SWOT analysis when considering
expanding into the global market?
OL-421-07: Analyze entrepreneurial and innovative approaches
for solving authentic business problems Proficient
100%
Not Proficient
0%
Does the capstone demonstrate the student’s ability to identify a
top priority of a company and detail an innovative
approach for effectively solving various problems?
innovative approaches in solving business problems of
a company?

Journal of IT and Economic Development 6(1), 16-40, April
2015 16
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
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]
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

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,

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
2015 19
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
2015 20
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).
2015 21
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
2015 22
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
2015 23
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
2015 24
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
2015 25
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

2015 26
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

2015 27
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

2015 28
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
2015 29
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.
2015 30
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
2015 31
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.
2015 32
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).
2015 33
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).
Affiliative Summary
This leadership style is one that relies on emotions of the
individual, rather than task. The
affiliative leader strives to keep their employees happy and
create harmony among them (Money-
zine, 2014). This style focuses on the culture of the group in
order to create unity. Although this
style of leading seems ideal, the lack of constructive criticism
for the employees can lead to poor
performance and project failure.
Literature Review
Most cited definitions of emotional intelligence can be found in
(Salovey, 1989). More
modern and refined versions can be found at (Mayer, 1999) and
(Salovey, 2001). The literature on
the effect of Emotional Intelligence on leadership styles is vast;
however, an interpretation of the
term itself is manifold. The early interpretation of emotional
style can be found in (Avolio, 1991)
and (Popper, 1994), these papers start to identify values of

emotional intelligence, but do not assign
a separate school of leadership to it, rather, it is considered an
important but subsidiary aspect of
Visionary or Charismatic School of Leadership. They focus
more on influencing the emotions and
behavior, rather than on understanding them. The seminal
publication that birthed a new school of
2015 34
leadership solely based on emotional intelligence was
(Goleman, 1998). (Goleman, 1998) and
(Cooper, 1998), together popularized and identified emotional
intelligence as a leadership
competency, and defined its dimensions and styles. Further
publications like (Goleman, 2002)
presented a detailed analysis of sub-styles within the emotional
school and established emotional
intelligence as a critical leadership competency separate from
cognitive and social intelligence.
The pioneer proponent of this school is Daniel Goleman, who
has published numerous papers and

books; his most recent being (Goleman, 2013).
Conclusion
Attempts have been made to identify various competencies that
define a successful leader. Authors
have identified these as cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and
motivational (Dulewicz, 2003) but
has been shown that emotional competence accounts for 36% of
the leadership performance
(Dulewicz, 2000) greatest amongst all competencies. Literature,
lists numerous schools of
leadership, but its clear emotional intelligence finds relevance
in each of them (Turner, 2005).
From a project viewpoint with fixed start and end dates, project
managers often tend to be more
task oriented than people oriented, which may hamper the
leadership role (Turner, 2005). This
division was propounded by the contingency school of
leadership (Turner, 2005) and, emotional
competence in a leader is crucial to bridge this gap.
Another factor is the global nature of projects in modern times.
Increasingly remote teams
are being used and a leader has to be competent enough to
identify, cope up with, and even utilize

the cultural and lingual differences. Literature has identified
personality traits for coping with the
cultural differences (Selmer 2002), and they heavily involve
social awareness and relationship
management dimensions from which the emotional
competencies arise.
The emergence of agile project management and self-organizing
and managed teams in
recent years has presented a new situational analysis of
leadership styles. Leaders do emerge in
2015 35
such teams, either formally and informally, even if no
leadership need has been defined. Again, an
emotional competency of empathy in this case has been found to
play a significant role and
influence task focused and socio-emotional goals (Wolff, 2002).
While emotional dimensions have been largely nebulous and
debated aspects of leadership,
through theory and examples in this paper, we have tried to
define emotional competencies that

underlie the leadership styles and predict which style will be
appropriate in relevant phases of the
project. However there is an unanimous agreement that
leadership always lies in the situation. This
can demand dynamic shuffling of the various competencies for a
leader to emerge successfully.
Acknowledgement
We are grateful for the encouragement and mentorship of Dr.
Victor Sohmen, Project
Management Program, Drexel University, and for his useful
comments and editorial guidance in
this paper.
2015 36
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Appendix A
Figure A. Adopted : Comindwork Weekly / Work Productivity

Tricks The Six Leadership Styles
(Goleman).(n.d.).RetrievedMarch11,2015,from
http://www.comindwork.com/weekly/2013-08-
12/productivity/the-six-leadership
styles-goleman
ttp://www.comindwork.com/weekly/2013-08-
12/productivity/the-six-leadership-s
ttp://www.comindwork.com/weekly/2013-08-
12/productivity/the-six-leadership-s
2015 40
Appendix B
Figure B. Adopted- Democratic Leadership. The Democratic
Leadership Style is Perhaps the…
Images-Frompo (n.d.). Retrieved March 9, 2015, from

http://image.frompo.com/48b406395fe324cdd0967081ab9f75f0
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without
permission.

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