From project management to project leadership

It is virtually a truism that good leadership practices can help project managers with attaining the desired project outcome. However, a better understanding of which leadership practices enable project managers to be more effective warrants further investigation. Subsequently, in this study, we investigate project leadership in the context of IT and its consequences on project work and project outcome. Project Leadership is conceptualized as a second order construct consisting of Project Management, Autonomy Support, and Emotional Intelligence. Survey data from 327 project team members across 15 industries suggests that skillful project managers who demonstrate good leadership practices can foster among team members individual learning and team relatedness as well as higher job satisfaction that ultimately contributes to perceived project success.