The Strategy Skills Podcast: Management Consulting | Strategy, Operations & Implementation | Critical Thinking

Vanessa Druskat, organizational psychologist and professor at the University of New Hampshire, discusses team emotional intelligence (EI) as a predictor of sustained performance. Building on her foundational work with Daniel Goleman, Druskat focuses not on individual EQ, but on the group-level norms and practices that distinguish effective teams, particularly in complex, high-stakes environments.   Druskat identifies three core team norms essential to cultivating group EI: mutual trust, constructive expression of emotions, and norms that support individual and group self-awareness. These are not “soft” ideals; they function as operational levers for managing conflict, decision-making quality, and adaptability.   Key takeaways include:   High-performing teams are not those without conflict, but those with processes for metabolizing conflict. Druskat emphasizes the role of emotional expression norms in allowing task-related disagreement while mitigating interpersonal friction.   Leaders significantly influence