Transformational leadership and emotional intelligence, and their connections in management and innovative projects management

Objective of the study: This paper seeks to discuss identified points of connection between the theory of emotional intelligence and transformational leadership and their interplay in management and innovative projects. Methodology/approach: The research method used comprises a systematic literature review, whose final corpus of studies was analyzed in its entirety, after searching the WOS and SCOPUS databases over the last ten years. Originality/Relevance: This study’s originality is twofold. The practical actions that demonstrate the presence of EI in individual and collective behavior affecting transformational leadership and in advancing research that seeks to understand EI in a collective rather than individually. Second, the potential controversial aspects related to the intersection of the topics, such as narcissism and Machiavellianism in leadership. Main results: The study corroborated the interrelationship between EI and transformational leadership, identifying in the literature four main clusters as current and future fields of study. This study discusses these clusters and their implications for the management and innovative projects. Theoretical/methodological contributions: The study contributes by pioneeringly connecting emotional intelligence with transformational leadership in management and innovative projects, highlighting the overview of the interrelationship between these concepts and fields of study and possible controversial aspects, in addition to the expected positive ones identified in the literature.