What Makes an Effective Leader? Victor Alston | Los Angeles

Are great leaders born or are they built? It’s a question that’s as old as time, and studies have been conducted that seem to indicate which one is mostly true. However, some leaders are recognized as having been “natural born leaders” for as long as many people around them can remember. However, you also hear about people who started at the lowest position in a company and then become a great business leader. While points can be debated either way, there are some points that are widely accepted. Effective leaders all possess certain traits. Here’s a look at some of the things that make an effective leader.

Passion

People will only follow a leader who is passionate about what they are leading people towards. Passion doesn’t equal “loudness;” it is the visible desire to take an organization, or a team of people to something that is bigger than they are. If you’re a leader that nobody follows you’re just somebody who is walking aimlessly and nobody cares where. Leading requires difficult decisions, and the only thing that can give a man or a woman the courage needed to make those decisions is passion for what they’re working on.

A Healthy Mix of Humility and Confidence

People won’t follow arrogant “leaders” but they also won’t follow timid people. It’s important for any good leader to be confident in the decisions that they make, but humble enough to recognize that their team is the real driving force in their ultimate success or failure. Confidence doesn’t equal arrogance and humility is not a synonym of timidity. Strike the balance.

People Skills

Whatever walk of life you’re serving in as a leader, you have to be able to interact with different people in different ways. For instance, as a business leader you need to be able to interact with your clientele. It’s important that you keep existing clients happy and are constantly working to obtain new ones. In the same vein, you have to be able to interact with the different personalities that make up the people around you. People matter!

There are many more ingredients that go in to making a great leader, these are just a few. Meet with your team and ask them to explain what they think makes a great leader and become what you need to become to take the team you lead to the next level.