The Emotionally Intelligent Team: Building Collaborative Groups that Outperform the Rest

by Vanessa Urch Druskat

The missing link between teams and emotional intelligence.

Great teams can sometimes feel like magic. It's hard to pin down just why they work so well. But what seems like magic is explainable, and replicable. It starts with team culture.

Much has been written about the power of emotional intelligence at the individual level, but little has been said about the benefits of this concept for groups. In this book, applied social psychologist and professor Vanessa Urch Druskat draws on thirty years of research on team development to present a model for building and leading emotionally intelligent teams. She offers practical advice on how

Create a solid team foundation that meets a team's basic structural needsWork with a team to build nine norms that develop an emotionally intelligent team cultureSupport team-member sense of belongingIncrease team trust, psychological safety, and team identity

By reading The Emotionally Intelligent Team, leaders and aspiring leaders alike will learn how to develop a strong team culture that motivates and sustains improved team collaboration and performance.

Genres: Nonfiction, Leadership, Business

254 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 22, 2025

Reviews

[Avid · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Emotionally Intelligent Team: Building Collaborative Groups That Outperform the Rest by Vanessa Urch Druskat is a timely and insightful addition to the topic of organization culture, team dynamics and leadership. Emotional Quotient/Emotional Intelligence has become a buzzword in organizations and leadership development since some time and this book provides the much needed definition of emotional intelligent teams and the practical guidance to leaders on how to form one. This book shifts the perspective of emotional intelligence from the individual to the collective and offers practical examples, tips and guidance on how to build a culture of emotional intelligence. She argues that just hiring emotionally intelligent individuals does not guarantee an emotionally intelligent team – a leader needs to cultivate a team culture built on psychological safety and mutual support.

Druskat organizes the book into three clusters:

Help one another succeed focuses on building a supportive community.
Learn and advance together focuses on assessment, learning and adaptation.
Engage our stakeholders focuses on going beyond the team and building external relationships.

These are further classified into nine practical norms that high-EI teams consistently demonstrate, such as creating an emotionally safe environment by addressing unacceptable behavior, solving problems proactively and managing conflict constructively. Each chapter includes questionnaires to evaluate where your team currently stands, steps to improve and the process to sustain it.

Druskat includes real-world examples, diagnostic tools, and step-by-step guidance for building emotionally intelligent teams from the ground up. This book is a must-read for all new and seasoned leaders who are committed to building collaborative, resilient, and high-performing teams.

[sunandareads · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Emotionally Intelligent Team" is a must-read for anyone who works in organizational development or who leads teams. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be recommending this highly to people across my network.

Vanessa Urch Druskat presents a clear and compelling argument for why it's critical to invest in developing a team's emotional intelligence in order to ensure successful collaboration. She specifically teases apart the difference between emotionally intelligent individuals and emotionally intelligent teams and this distinction is at the heart of this book: focusing on the team as an entity of its own is critical for the long-term success of any group.

This book offers a clear argument, a practical framework, tons of useful tips and tactics that one can implement right away, and is thoroughly backed by research. I loved how the rigor and science behind these ideas is not overly academic, but instead is accessible and clearly speaks to why this work matters.

If you're a fan of the work of Amy Edmondson, Simon Sinek or Daniel Coyle's Culture Code, you'll enjoy this book. 5/5 stars, an excellent read and I'd recommend you pick up your copy right away!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Emotionally Intelligent Team is an interesting guide to how to use and promote emotional intelligence within your teams. It provides insight on how to change your thought process to be more emotionally intelligent and to reap the benefits of this career-wise.