Effective Leadership Can Be Defined

Leadership can be a challenging concept to describe. After all, the plethora of places, organizations, efforts, businesses, events, and initiatives that call for strong leadership present such a diversity of needs, issues, and abilities that some find it impractical, if not impossible, to try to identify the qualities and capabilities of strong leadership. I disagree. Any person in any role of leadership for any type of entity must possess and display certain traits that are conducive to strong and effective leadership.
In my quarter-century in administrative and leadership roles, as well as working for effective (and ineffective) leaders, I have realized that good leaders share certain commonalities while poor leaders lacked those common characteristics. To make it simpler to recall those traits, I have simplified them to a listing of verbs, provided as an acrostic.
A truly effective leader . . .

L
Listens to his team, asking for their ideas, suggestions, even criticisms of various aspects of the organization; Learns from her team, from their work their recommendations, even their failures;

E
Empowers those below him to be creative, take risks, think outside the box, suggest changes, take ownership; Empathizes with her staff’s personal situation and lives, understanding that obligations outside of work can impact the quality of effort or achievement inside work;

A
Assists people with their personal and professional goals, with their understanding of their
jobs; Accepts responsibility for the failures of the team;

D
Demonstrates decisiveness, humility, honesty, and integrity; Develops relationships that remain professional though tinged with personal aspects;

E
Energizes her staff with excitement, enthusiasm, and satisfaction about their job, their co-workers, their supervisors, their office, and their employer; Elevates the level of work by staff by showing trust and confidence in their abilities to do their jobs well;

R
Respects all people in the office as human beings and treat all with human decency and integrity; Responds to all staff inquiries, needs, problems, challenges, and thank you’s;

S
Supports his staff in their efforts, even when (and especially when) they are struggling; Shares her personal self with staff, letting them know she is a real, conscientious, approachable human being;

H
Hears his people when they approach with concerns, requests, needs, complaints, and suggestions; s “here”, present to his people, visible “on the floor”, “in the workroom”, “on the line”, or wherever her workers need to see her;

I
Influences his team by being a good person and always doing the right thing, no matter how difficult; Instills positive work traits and habits through modeling behavior;

P
Participates in staff or office activities and events, emphasizing his involvement in the “team”; Praises his team routinely, regularly, and rigorously.

With 50% of those traits, a person is a pretty good leader; 75%, a very effective leader; 100%, a truly amazing leader, one to admire and emulate.