What Makes an Effective Leader?

Leadership is a process that helps a group of people to achieve their goals. Each of us has certain criteria of what characteristics an effective leader should possess. However, different people have different opinions about leadership and the qualities which make the leader effective. On the one hand, there are people who believe that effective leaders are born with those qualities and have big potential to become effective leaders in the future. On the other hand, there are people who think that leadership is something which can be learned. They believe that we all have the leadership potential, just as we all have the ability to run. Some people may be better than others, but each of us has a starting point to build on with training and practice. In my opinion there are four important qualities that any effective leader posses and I discuss each one of them separately below.

Firstly, a ‘must’ for anyone aiming to become an effective leader is his/her knowledge. The knowledge in your field of work is essential because the more specialized you are the more you will be able to solve the problems you encounter on every-day basis and be able to guide your subordinates appropriately. Moreover, a general knowledge is always an advantage to you and your work as a leader. This is because, whatever your work is, being able to run a meeting, determine the goals and the objectives of your organization is something you can only benefit from.

Secondly, an effective leader must have the ability for teamwork. The success of the company is something which cannot be achieved solely by the leader’s conduct. The teamwork involves working within a group in achieving a certain goal. This means that each of the members of the group must contribute with own ideas, take a share of responsibility, and the involvement of the leader in the work should guide in giving a constructive criticism and feedback to the others. The leader must also provide technical assistance,