Tag Archives: self-awareness

Emotional Agility for Project Managers – A Path to Success

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(This article first appeared in the Critical Path, the monthly newsletter of PMI Sydney Chapter in October 2023)

We are increasingly bombarded by a huge number of bits of sensory information every day. The human mind works tirelessly to make sense of the humongous amount of information it is getting every second, and to respond with the right decision. This is exacerbated in the high-stakes world of project management, where deadlines loom, teams need to be guided effectively, and stakeholders demand results. Dr. Susan David, a renowned psychologist and author, has championed the importance of emotional agility in personal and professional life. In this article, I explore the concept of ‘Emotional Agility’ developed by Dr. Susan David and how it enables project managers to navigate the complex landscape of project leadership with greater ease and success.

The Project Manager’s Balancing Act

Project managers shoulder a myriad of responsibilities. They must lead their teams, allocate resources, maintain clear communication with everyone, and ensure the project stays on course. These demands often lead to high levels of stress, clouting their judgement and forcing them to react quickly.

Emotional agility begins with self-awareness—a cornerstone of Dr. Susan David’s philosophy. Project managers must recognise and understand their own emotional responses to effectively lead and manage their teams. By becoming aware of emotional triggers and understanding when they are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or frustrated, project managers can proactively address these emotions to make better decisions.

Unhooking from Destructive Patterns

Dr. Susan David’s concept of being “hooked” by emotions is a crucial component of emotional agility. Being hooked refers to becoming entangled in unproductive, often destructive, emotional patterns. For project managers, this might involve getting stuck in negative thought loops, dwelling on mistakes, or becoming paralysed by fear.

Emotional agility helps project managers recognise when they are hooked and provides them with the tools to unhook from these patterns. By developing emotional agility, project managers can break free from counterproductive emotional cycles, enabling them to make better decisions and lead more effectively.

The Power of Emotional Awareness

Emotional awareness empowers project managers to make thoughtful and informed decisions. For instance, if a project manager acknowledges that unforeseen delays are causing mounting frustration, they can pause, reflect on their emotions, and choose a more constructive response. This may involve revising timelines, transparently communicating challenges with the team, or seeking additional resources.

Moreover, self-awareness helps project managers avoid impulsive, emotion-driven reactions that can lead to conflicts or suboptimal decisions. By understanding their emotional states, they can detach from the immediate emotional response and make rational choices, maintaining composure in challenging situations.

Leading with Authenticity

Another important aspect of emotional agility is authenticity. Authentic leadership involves being true to oneself and one’s values while also being attuned to the needs and emotions of others. Project managers who lead authentically inspire trust and confidence in their teams.

Authenticity in leadership requires project managers to embrace vulnerability, admitting when they don’t have all the answers or when they’ve made a mistake. This fosters a culture of openness and trust within the team. When project managers demonstrate emotional authenticity, it encourages team members to do the same, leading to stronger connections and better collaboration.

Adapting to Changing Circumstances

Project managers often encounter unexpected challenges or shifts in project dynamics. Emotional agility enables them to adapt to these changes effectively. This adaptability is especially important in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.

Instead of clinging to a rigid plan, an emotionally agile project manager can pivot and adjust the project’s course as needed. This flexibility not only prevents roadblocks but also allows for innovation and creative problem-solving. It’s about being open to new ideas and approaches, even if they weren’t part of the initial project plan.

Emotional Agility in Communication

Project managers who are emotionally agile can attune to the emotions of their team members, comprehending their concerns and motivations. This enables them to tailor their communication to be more supportive and encouraging. Emotional agility also aids in conflict resolution, as project managers can navigate challenging conversations with empathy and composure.

Furthermore, when project managers are emotionally agile, they can anticipate and address potential communication breakdowns before they escalate. This proactive approach saves time, prevents misunderstandings, and fosters a more harmonious working environment.

Resilience in the Face of Setbacks

No project unfolds without setbacks and obstacles. An emotionally agile project manager possesses the resilience to weather these storms and emerge stronger. Resilience entails learning from setbacks rather than succumbing to them.

When a project manager encounters a setback, emotional agility allows them to process their emotions and thoughts in a healthy manner. They can analyse what went wrong, glean lessons from the experience, and adjust their strategies for future projects. This resilience not only benefits the project manager but also sets an example for the team, encouraging them to adopt a growth mindset and view setbacks as opportunities for learning and improvement.

Emotional agility – a path to success

In the field of project management, emotional agility is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. Project managers who develop emotional agility can lead with authenticity, make more informed decisions, adapt to changing circumstances, communicate effectively, and exhibit resilience in the face of setbacks. These skills not only enhance a project manager’s performance but also contribute to a healthier and more productive work environment.

Emotional agility is not a static trait but a skill that can be cultivated and honed over time. Project managers can start by practicing self-awareness, embracing authenticity, and being open to personal growth and development. As they become more emotionally agile, they will find themselves better equipped to handle the challenges and complexities of modern project management, ultimately leading to more successful outcomes and happier, more engaged teams.

Replenish your smarts – unlearn and relearn

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In a rapidly changing world, experience can become a curse while inexperience can be a blessing. Experience becomes habits and dogmas trapping us in old ways of thinking, knowing and doing; while inexperience frees us to learn, improvise and adapt quickly to changing circumstances.

I’m sure you’ve heard stories about experienced drivers who repeatedly failed their driving tests after moving to a new country, particularly if they were driving on the other side of the road, while new or novice drivers pass their driving tests more often. This appears to be counterintuitive, but Liz Wiseman, in her insightful book Rookie Smarts, states that according to studies and researches “inexperience can work to your advantage: It can spark a dazzling performance and help you compete with, if not surpass, even the most talented, experienced players.”

Wiseman explains that experience creates dangerous blind spots. People form habits out of experience, and with habits, our brain stops working. We become desensitised to the world around us, we stop seeking feedback and we stop exploring new domains and paths. Similarly, Jonah Sachs, in his thought-provoking book Unsafe Thinking cited a research concluding that while expertise can make us enormously efficient at playing an established game, it can also make us slower to realise when the game has changed and less able to respond to those changes. For example, imagine that the rules or the size of the Tennis court has changed, certainly there will be new names who will defeat the top seeded international Tennis players.

Sachs admits that it feels good to be an expert. It is a mark of accomplishment, intelligence and hard work. It brings us esteem and makes us feel needed. That’s all good. The problem starts when the expertise leads us, unwittingly, down the path of overconfidence. When we are overconfident of what we know, our identities and our egos become attached to the unique knowledge networks that confirms our beliefs. This will lead us to defend our expertise from any challenges, whether from new information that runs contrary to our accumulated knowledge or from people questioning our views.

In addition, we generally tend to credit ourselves with having more expertise than we do. Many studies have documented this “better-than-average” phenomenon. For example, 93 percent of US drivers rate themselves as above average behind the wheel. Even drivers currently laid up in the hospital for accidents they themselves had caused were similarly found to overestimate their abilities.

The trio of overconfidence in our expertise, our conformity network ego, and the “better-than-average” phenomenon, all of this do limit and frame our thinking and actions, both in the social and professional worlds. This limitation constrains us in a certain path that celebrates what we believe in and disregards (or worse, devalues) everything else. The endpoint of such a path is closed-mindedness.

Hit the refresh button

To break away from the path of closed-mindedness we need to hit the refresh button in our thoughts and beliefs and adopt a ‘keep learning’ mindset: continuously explore new thoughts and opportunities. Adopting a ‘keep learning’ mindset does not mean we ditch the experiences we built along the way. On the contrary, we need to build the skill of knowing when to play the role of the experienced veteran and when to act as inexperienced novice and seek new ideas and knowledge. That is, we do need the experience to decide whether to see the world through the eyes of the expert or the beginner. We need to know when it is time to hit the refresh button to stop, unlearn and relearn.

The good news is that ‘keep learning’ mindset is something that can be learned. ‘Keep learning’ mindset can be built by being curious, humble and deliberate. Start by embracing curiosity and inquiry. Challenge your own thoughts, knowledge, traditions and convictions. Build a belief that what you don’t know is more interesting than what you know – it is probably right most of the times. Continuously seek and explore. Think outward, build new networks and learn from people around you.

A curious mind avoids pre-judgement traps and makes you ready to learn. This is where humility comes in where you will seek guidance and remain open to correction without regard for expertise or position. This allows the development of coachability and teachability. A humble person with a non-judgemental state of mind is a coachable person, ready to learn, contemplate and understand everyone and everything else.

To make the best out of your ‘keep learning’ mindset you have to deliberately be curious and humble. You have to approach this with a great deal of intentionality and conviction that you want to learn, unlearn and relearn. Don’t just wait until things happen. You need to deliberately become a perpetual learner.

Replenish your smarts

When the world is changing fast, you want people who can free themselves from the past, mobilise the expertise of each other, and forge ahead into new territory. In other words, you want people who can learn and continuously replenish their smarts with insatiable curiosity, a humility that makes them lifelong students, and deliberately adopt an open mindset of continuous learning. Or as Pocahontas said:

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You’ll learn things you never knew, you never knew.