by Ronald Claiborne

Created on: July 04, 2009   Last Updated: July 08, 2009

Effective leadership involves doing six things right all the time. Understanding your purpose, knowing what is possible, knowing how others can help, helping others succeed, staying focused, and monitoring your level of achievement is the road map to success (Clawson, 2006). These tips for effective leadership are only as effective as the desire or passion indwelling the heart, mind and soul of the one who would be leader. The leader must have a cause and must have a desire to do the right thing to truly be effective in leadership.

The first step in providing effective leadership involves understanding your purpose. Leaders must ask themselves the question, why am I doing this? If the answer to this question does not ignite a fire that burns passionately deep inside of you then you are not going to be an effective leader or provide effective leadership. Clawson (2006) believes that effective leadership is secondary to having a deep purpose or commitment to a cause. An effective leader seeks to improve those that surround him and strives to make things better in the environment upon which he exerts his or her influence (Clawson, 2006) in pursuing purpose.

Being the leader requires thinking of others before thinking about oneself. A truly gifted leader can look at a situation and identify the problem but also can discern a clear path of how to solve the problem and make things better for everyone. This requires the person who would lead to be capable of visioning a better future for his constituents or followers. When a leader becomes animated about the resulting possibilities that can result from solving a problem his or her energy tends to draw others into the fight for the better way. There is nothing like a common cause to unite a group of people in a struggle for freedom. Therefore the ability of a leader to re-frame a problem and cast it as an opportunity to change lives for the better will empower the people who follow.

Leaders who know what is possible must also recognize they cannot accomplish their dreams alone. Every leader needs followers and every follower needs a leader. In the grand scheme of things the most effective leaders have mastered the art of helping people help themselves. A leader who understands the nature of self esteem in individuals and can build a person's self esteem while encouraging them to fight for the cause will become a very persuasive leader. Leadership comes down to getting things done through people. Therefore leaders

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>