The Emotionally Intelligent Team

Building Collaborative Groups That Outperform the Rest

By: Vanessa Urch Druskat, Daniel Goleman - foreword

Narrated by: Megan Tusing

The missing link between teams and performance? 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, social and organizational psychologist and professor Vanessa Urch Druskat combines thirty years of research and team development to present a model for building and leading emotionally intelligent teams. She offers practical advice on how to create a solid foundation of team norms and behaviors; understand how team members support one another to reduce toxic conflict, demonstrate caring, and build a sense of belonging; support expression, build optimism, and solve problems proactively; and increase team trust, psychological safety, and innovation.

By listening to 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2025 Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation (P)2025 Ascent Audio

Outstanding Takeaways

I love how the author not only showed us what to do, but how to do it. Vanessa’s content was generous and relevant for every type of organizational team. I am grateful for the actionable takeaways she provided that I can apply to my Peernovation practice with CEO forums and teams around the world. It’s as good as it gets. A must read for any team leader or member!

Great perspective.

I appreciated the idea that a team is an entity that can improve itself through collective behaviors and norms.
The book was very insightful.
The audible performance was okay, and I did have to stop from time to time as my mind would wander.