Leadership

6) Persuasive-an effective leader does not have to be a salesperson to be able to "rally the troops" regarding the company's mission and goals. And he/she does not have to intimidate employees either. The leader can persuade, rather coerce. People will follow someone that they trust, and a good leader gains that trust by using logic, reason, and..... speaking from his/her heart.

Leadership

4) Tactical-effective leaders pay constant attention to their companies' financial results. They also make sure that their financial staff members are doing the same and are providing sound advice regarding their companies' P&L and balance sheets.

5) Focused- good leaders set priorities based upon the vision and mission of their organizations and the organizations' current position/performance in the industries in which they operate. Successful leaders stick with these priorities until they are done-they avoid getting sidetracked by new initiatives.

Leadership

3) Strategic-successful leaders focus on conducting a "SWOT" analysis"*. This acronym stands for "strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats". Once each of these is identified, the leader should make sure that the organization thoroughly analyses each one and formulates a detailed plan to capitalize on the strengths and opportunities, and deal effectively with any weaknesses and threats.

*Society for Human Resource Management

Leadership

Effective leaders need to be passionate about the company's vision, and they should demonstrate this enthusiasm whenever they have the chance. Their enthusiasm should extend to employees, suppliers, customers, the board of directors, and investors. Leaders should demonstrate their commitment to the vision through their words and their actions.....and this should be an on-going commitment, not just for the first 30 days after the vision is established.

Leadership

2) Inspirational-once the company's vision is established, effective leaders need to inspire employees regarding the vision. Now we have all heard what I just wrote many times before (this is not "brain surgery"). The problem is that once the vision is written down and finalized for all to read, many leaders are not passionate enough about the vision and quickly abandon any sincere attempt to "motivate the troops" about the company's vision. These particular leaders think....."OK, we have done the "vision thing", now let's move on to something else.....WRONG DECISION!.....more next time.....

The source for some of this material is an article by William S. Frank.