Sunday, January 18, 2009

Qualities to be an effective leader

By Ethan Beh

What does it mean to be a good leader? What are the vital characteristics required? It can be very beneficial if you have leadership qualities. Regardless what your job is, or whether you are in any position of leadership, developing leadership qualities can help you get through various challenging situations in life.

What separates a good leader and a poor one is having the right characteristic of leadership and using effective leadership styles. There are plenty of attributes required to be a good leader. For this article, lets focus on the most vital ones.

I. Great Communicator. Good communication is one of the most important characteristic of leadership. A good leader is able to communicate well not only with the people he is leading, but with external parties as well.

So what does it mean to be a good communicator? For starters it means saying what is required, not what is desired. Good leaders tell the truth like it is, without sugarcoating or fearing of hurting others' feelings.

Criticize when necessary, give credit where it is due, encourage when encouragement is needed and always listen to what your followers have to say. Being a good communicator means also being a good listener.

II. Decision Making. The second vital attribute of being a good leader is to be a good decision maker. A good decision maker must;

1. BE TIMELY - Being able to make decisions within the required time and not spending too much time analyzing and considering each decision. 2. BE RESOLUTE - This means having the firmness and willpower to stick to each decision long enough to see it bear fruit. 3. FLEXIBLE - To have the flexibility to change directions and decisions when it is discovered that the initial judgment may not be the right one.

There are times when there is insufficient information to make a good informed decision. During times like this, a good leader trusts his judgment and instincts when making the decision. The effective leader has courage and is never afraid of making decisions.

Great communication and decision making will bring you a long way towards becoming an effective leader. Develop these 2 attributes to become a better leader. - 15359

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