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25 Lessons for Effective Leadership

There are many individuals that can lead others to places of nobility and prosperity but will only do so if called upon because by themselves they are unwilling to risk their lives on matters of great uncertainty.

Here are 25 insights for leadership effectiveness. They cover subjects on qualities of leadership, the frailty in the humanity of leaders, time management, the focus of leaders, setting goals, managing setbacks, followership, planning and attainment of good results.

1. Not all traits of leadership personality are revealed before the privilege of power. They are traits in a person holding leadership positions that are triggered by the situations and circumstances.
2. What is seen as a quality of leadership is often flawed by the frailty in the humanity of the leader. There are times when flaws emerge in leaders despite the great feats they have accomplished with other enviable attributes.
3. In wielding influence to causes considered noble, leaders have demanded commitment from people to the detriment of their resources. Followers need to know when their leaders become selfish and manipulative to serve themselves.
4. There are traits that remain well under control until a mix of power is applied.
5. No one is immune to the frailties of his humanity. It doesn’t disqualify from providing credible leadership provided that in its identification, change and growth is embraced for a better person to emerge.
6. A leader is responsible not because he is capable but because he is accountable. Accountable first to the cause he leads and next to the loyalists of the cause beginning with himself.
7. Every unfolding event always reveal new opportunities for the emergence of a leader. Situations and circumstances often place a demand for people with exceptional qualities that can derive results from chaos.
8. Every experience with failure bears with it a lesson for your next experience with success. There’s no failure that doesn’t leave a clue for success.
9. Leaders become achievers when they engage: — Focus — Sacrifice — Commitment — Insights — Empathy — Optimism — Willpower — Inspiration — Self-Denial — Well-being — Convictions — Results — Mindset — Skills — Resources.
10. Time is a dependable tool of evaluation and assessment of efforts and its contributory power to the realisation of goals through completion of tasks.
11. Time is a strong force of motivation that finds allows an individual develop discipline and commitment to tasks.
12. Time is an influencer of approaches and strategies while helping a leader to focus on effectiveness.
13. Time is a tool that helps in optimising resources by focusing on efficient ways of getting things done.
14. When you put problems into perspective, you will find solutions to reduce it but if you allow pressure to mount on problems, you will see them affect other areas of life.
15. Goals expand as we increase our desires for improvement. The moment you want to become a better person, your goals will shift from where it is to a new target.
16. Every setback is a setup for a comeback. The lessons learnt from failed attempts are sufficient for planning for greater feats.
17. Always follow through on your commitments. Leaders that want to remain credible must fulfil their obligations without engaging alibis.
18. No matter how great a repair effort is, it can never match up to the original value of a thing. Strive hard to keep your character by building defences against its weakness.
19. It takes involvement and engagement to influence change. You will never be able to influence anything you do not participate in.
20. If you know what your network can offer, you should never suffer. You will never know what you have at your disposal until you ask those you know.
21. Don’t sabotage other people’s efforts because of differences in perspectives. The diversity of opinions is the reason we keep learning that our ways are not always right.
22. Success will get you visibility. There can be no assault to the leader that knows how to generate results.
23. Be open to leading others achieve success. The strength you possess is not for status but for service.
24. Those who lead you will often err. Errors are experienced only in activity. He who doesn’t work cannot err. When leaders err, we should support their transformation and not hold them up to be slain provided they have not committed crimes to humanity.
25. There’s honour reserved for the person that will meet the needs of others without manipulating them.

There’s no secret formula for leadership success. The principles that support leadership effectiveness are the same across the globe but the ability to produce results lie in the contextual application.

OAO