Previous research has typically focused on singular attributes that impact a leader’s effectiveness. This study, instead, looks at whether emotional intelligence moderates the anticipated negative effect of distributed presence on engagement and influence, and ultimately, leader effectiveness. Buttressed by emotional intelligence, engagement, and influence theories, the research question focused on how emotional intelligence skills moderate the impact of a project manager’s distributed presence to render the leader effective. The study sample for this research came from voluntary participants who work for a U.S. government agency comprising leaders co-located with their teams and distributed presence leaders. Descriptive statistics showed that leaders with higher emotional intelligence (EI) were more engaging and influential than co-located leaders with high EI. Regression analyses indicated greatest significance between the dependent variables—engagement and influence—and the independent variables of distributed presence and emotional intelligence when using emotional intelligence branches and tasks for the EI variables. Data from this study showed distributed presence leaders with high emotional intelligence abilities effect engagement and influence positively. The work of this research advances insights into how emotional intelligence effects, positively, project leader engagement and influence when the project manager’s presence is distributed. The data rendered by this research was informative but only to a limited degree because results were not sufficiently expansive. Nonetheless, the application of this study applies to the practical world as distributed teams seems to be a more permanent part of the business landscape than temporary, and learning how to better work as a project manager with distributed presence is essential for both organizations and project managers.