Keys to Effective Leadership

• Know yourself and seek self-improvement - In order to know yourself, you have to understand your be, know, and do, attributes. Seeking self-improvement means continually strengthening your attributes. This can be accomplished through self-study, formal classes, reflection, and interacting with others.

• Be technically proficient - As a leader, you must know your job and have a solid familiarity with your employees' tasks.

• Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions - Search for ways to guide your organization to new heights. And when things go wrong, they always do sooner or later -- do not blame others. Analyze the situation, take corrective action, and move on to the next challenge.

• Make sound and timely decisions - Use good problem solving, decision making, and planning tools.

• Set the example - Be a good role model for your employees. They must not only hear what they are expected to do, but also see. We must become the change we want to see - Mahatma Gandhi.

• Know your people and look out for their well-being - Know human nature and the importance of sincerely caring for your workers.

• Keep your workers informed - Know how to communicate with all of your employees, not just the senior management team members and/or your company's "inner circle". 
  

• Develop a sense of responsibility in your workers - Help to develop good character traits that will help them carry out their professional responsibilities.  Create sustainable systems of accountability for the entire employee base of your organization.
  

• Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished - Communication is the key to this responsibility.  Set crystal clear expectations and routinely "inspect what you expect".
  

• Train as a team - Although many so called leaders call their organization, department, section, etc. a team; they are not really teams...they are just a group of people doing their jobs.  Your job as a leader is to inspire teamwork and esprit de corps.  Be the role model for a highly effective team player.
  

• Use the full capabilities of your organization - By developing a team spirit, you will be able to employ your organization, department, section, etc. to its fullest capabilities.

• Reward and recognize excellent performance - Frequent, public recognition of a job well done is a key leadership trait.