Leveraging leader and team emotional intelligence to thrive during the AI revolution

Vanessa Urch Druskat

Chapter 16 in Research Handbook on Emotional Intelligence at Work, 2026, pp 318-334 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The technological advancements that form the basis of the 4th Industrial Revolution have led to game-changing innovations and revenue growth in organizations. Forecasters at the World Economic Forum (WEF) believe that this is just the beginning of an era in which artificial intelligence and machine learning will transform every aspect of our lives and unlock our full human potential. The WEF estimates that 97 million new jobs will emerge to replace the 85 million that will be rendered obsolete. In this chapter, I argue that leading organizations to embrace the unprecedented opportunities ahead requires a specific kind of emotional literacy and set of emotional intelligence competencies. Leaders need to manage their own feelings about revolutionary change (for example, uncertainty, excitement, fear) and respond effectively to others’ similar emotions and high levels of vulnerability. Herein, I elaborate on three specific sets of emotional competencies that can help leaders support themselves and their employees through times of uncertain change: emotional intelligence, social intelligence, and the ability to build emotionally intelligent teams that collaborate to supply the support that pioneers the innovations needed ahead.

Keywords: Leadership; AI; Change; Emotional Intelligence; Teams (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035332519
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035332526.00025 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:23315_16

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().