What Makes A Successful And Effective Leader

Good leaders are in high demand and with plenty of career opportunities. That’s because good leaders are recognized as a valuable asset to any company. So what makes a successful and effective leader?

Leadership styles are learned from mentors and keys to successful leadership are often kept secret. Excellent leaders seam to be born but beyond the inherent natural ability they have, they spend years perfecting and developing those skills. You might say a combination of nature and nurture.

First you must recognize that leaders are different from managers and supervisors. Managers and supervisors are not necessarily good leaders, although leaders make great managers or supervisors. In actuality these are three distinct positions.

A supervisor is a person that is in charge of providing direction, recognition, and appreciation to employees that work under them. A manager is responsible for running a business by directing employees and supervisors in a direction or manner that meets company goals and objectives. Of course both supervisors and managers do present some leadership qualities, but true leaders they may not be.

Successful leaders have some specific traits that make them effective leaders. One of the most important characteristics to a leader simple and direct, and that is the personal decision to become a leader. The personal decision that you want to provide others with vision and inspire them to do more and do better. Someone once said it very simply. “A successful leader must choose to lead.”

An effective leader must have the ability to take charge whether in the work place or during an emergency. An effective leader must be able to elicit the desired response without being domineering or overbearing. An effective leader has the ability to be able to motivate people.

A successful and effective leader must be the person that others want to follow, want to be like. A leader must be able to inspire and motivate those below and provide inspiration for them to achieve and move forward. A successful leader can provide vision and provide opportunities for others to grow. An effective leader is caring and compassionate and there is mutual respect and trust.

A successful leader is able to observe non-obtrusively and evaluate what is occurring within and among the group that he or she leads. Your presence must be seen and felt in order for others to believe you have the know how and the understanding to lead them. Don’t expect to show up once a week and figure individuals will respect and follow you. They may be courteous and respectful to your face but in the back of their minds they will question how you could possibly know and lead when you are never present.

Successful leaders are also respected for their good decision making and their fairness. It is well recognized that although one may not always agree with a leader’s decision they are respected because they act in a fair and compassionate manner.

The question remains whether successful and effective leaders are born or grown, and are they a result of nature or nurture? We may never have the answer to this question but what we do know is that effective and successful leaders are a breed of their own and sought after in every industry, business and public or private corporation.

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.