by Peter Baskerville

Created on: December 26, 2008

"Leadership is the art of getting someone to do something you want done because they want to do it." These are the thoughts of the thirty-fourth President of the United States, Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower, that I believe form the litmus test on the effectiveness of our leadership.

The true test of a leader's effectiveness is measured in how the group conduct themselves when there is none. For the art of effective leadership is to motivate a person to the point that they believe, they no longer have need of your leadership. Developing this further one could say that groups are lead to achievement by good leaders, supported all the way by great leaders but achieve their very own success with the most effective of leaders.

Furthermore, an effective leader knows how to translate objective corporate goals into beneficial group ones and seeks to take care of the group as the group takes care of the task. An effective leader then, seeks to be entrusted with the aspirations of the team before striking out for the goal.

Now, effective leadership is different from effective management. Warren Bennis, author of the book "Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge" sums it up well with the quote "Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing." For managers primarily look to delegate but effective leaders primarily look to motivate.

At the very core of an effective leader is character, or as the US General Norman Schwarzkopf said "Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy." Now a cause will always deliver a leader but only character will ensure its success. For character development is the training college of leadership and completes the triple-C of effective leadership which also embraces competency and concern.

So, apart from the points mentioned above, here is a list of further attitudes and actions of effective leaders. Measure yourself against these ten to determine the effectiveness of your own leadership.

Effective leaders;
1) - see leadership as a job not as a status position.
2) - know how to build a mighty team with 2 words "Thank You".
3) - know how to make decisions.
4) - are both misers and philanthropist - the former with blame the latter with praise.
5) - speak their truth graciously, seeking neither offence nor servitude.
6) - know their rightful position is between the group and the threat.
7) - accept the blame for all misfortunes and acknowledge the team in every praise.
8) - know how to direct from the front and carry from the back.
9) - show leadership by encouraging others to lead.
and finally, effective leaders can laugh at misfortune.

Fundamentally, effective leadership is no more than having the insight to find out what makes individual team members tick and then having the skill to make them. To read more on this topic, see Dr. Neil Flanagan's article on effective leadership.

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