by C. J. Carpenter

Created on: June 19, 2008   Last Updated: April 18, 2011

What makes a leader effective or ineffective? Effective leaders are needed in all different aspects of our lives. Competent leadership is required from the captain of the college basketball team, a political leader, in the armed forces or Divisional Vice President of a Fortune 500 Corporation. In all of these arenas the leader must be self motivate and rally a team. There are personality traits that are common to good leaders, but they all must continue to develop their leadership skills to be successful.

We've all met people that we thought were born leaders. They have a charismatic personality, people like being around them, and they influence others. That's a good start for being an effective leader, but there's more to it than that. All good leaders need to have some fundamental skills. Effective leaders are motivated and can communicate clearly. They're enthusiastic and persuasive which makes other people glad to join their cause. Proficient leaders are good listeners, empathetic, and have courage because they won't buckle under pressure. A good leader takes charge and is able to delegate and understand the task that they empower their team to do. Effective leaders are adaptable and can adjust to change readily.

On the other hand, ineffective leadership has some common characteristics as well. We've heard some of the labels that these leaders are been tagged with. They're called.. "Micro managers", "nit pickers", "Manipulators", "Dominators" and the infamous "Control Freaks". The common thread in each of these personality types is self centeredness. Micro managers don't trust that other people are capable of getting the job done. Control freaks are driven by fear and incompetence. They lack certain skills themselves and project those shortcomings on others. At times leaders are ineffective because they are not good communicators and don't enjoy spending time with people. Ineffective leaders are usually in the wrong employment position or venture.

It's a godsend to work for a strong effective manager. They are visionaries and have learned to set goals, put an action plan in place and use a tracking assessment to reach that goal. An effective manager has learned good time management and organizational skills. They understand the importance of thorough training and delegating to competent people around them. Successful managers help individuals on their team by identifying areas where they need growth and development. Together they can design and implement a plan for training. Effective leaders look good because they inspire others to achieve greatness, too!

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