Being an effective leader is all about being someone who leads

by example. A manager is someone who simply follows the job

objective. A leader is someone who inspires the team to be
creative and productive.
Some simple ingredients that have helped me improve in
leadership:
1. Show that you can communicate effectively with both your
speaking and writing skills. Good leaders can communicate
about what they see and what they want to happen.
2. Make good decisions and be confident with your choices.
Choose the logical decision that is the best for the workplace, as
a whole, even if you, personally, would like the other option.
3. Be a good listener. Listen to others' complaints and concerns
and take them seriously. Treat everyone with respect. Deal with
situations in a direct manner.
 4. Organize by creating plans that lead your team in the right
direction. Being organized will increase your productivity and
inspire your team to do the same.
5. Be enthusiastic about your leadership role. It's your job to
inspire others to be motivated and excited about their jobs.
6. Deal with conflict in the workplace as swiftly as you can.
Workplace conflict, whether it is between you and someone else
or between two employees, can make the work environment an
uncomfortable place for all. Talk to each party in a calm manner,
working out a way to resolve the problem.
7. Try to improve your leadership skills. Always look for ways to
improve your leadership skills, whether it be by reading the
latest leadership book or attending a conference where you can
get expert advice on how to be a better leader.
Ruby Fine
Executive Sales Consultant at Benchmark Email
 Today, a leader has to be a strong communicator.
It is vital leaders understand the two-way nature of
communication so they are able to nurture good
ideas from employees on an ongoing basis and
have a way to capitalize on those "knowledge
assets.
Mark Grimm
Public Speaker, Trainer of the Year, Media & Message
Strategist, Actor/Voiceovers, Author, Radio Host
 Depending who, what, where and why they are
leading this is a very generic question that can
have tons of answers that all can be right or all can
be wrong
Every medium has its own challenges though the
most common is how to lead a team that is very
diverse and get them to work as one unit in
harmony and being productive
Sahar Andrade, MB.BCh
 I would venture to suggest that the challenges mostly
faced by leaders are those that deal with communication
and difficult conversations. This is particularly visible in
situations where all items to be done are equally important
in priority but still have to be executed one after the other
due to time, resources and requirements balancing acts. I
would argue that the ability to prioritize in the face of
difficulty, conflicting reactions while at the same time
remain calm and able to communicate outwardly the
reasons behind this prioritization are key challenges faced
daily in such a post on a daily basis.
P.S. While at it we might also add the challenge to remain
calm, cool, composed and well behaved in front of wild
disagreement with what is being said and told.
Andre Muscat
Director, Strategic Relationships at GFI Software Ltd.
 Every leader will have challenges, because it's not
always easy to work through others to get the
results you need. Managing poor performance is
always one of the toughest challenges for a leader
to face but then again, so is managing poor
results. It really depends on the level of the leader
we are referring to and their responsibilities.

Judy Hojel
Exp. CEO & Speaker, Leadership Development Specialist,
Training Designer , Sales Growth Consultant to SMEs, Mentor
 In today's society and business climate I would say
practicing what one preaches. This is an ages old
issue that challenges any good person.... Look at
poor old Joe Paterno, being all hard core on his
college football players to always take the high
road, "do the right thing...." and what doe Joe do
when got wind of the scandal.... Preaching is one
thing, being tough and righteous enough to
practice what you preach is a whole different
beast.
Yuhannes Watts
Strategic Networker
 Leaders need to get and assess feedback from their
followers. Some just assume that they are being
effective, thorough, and understood. They should
find out what followers need, even if it means
asking them. When they ask, they should be able to
handle the honesty in the answers.
Deidre M. Simpson
Content Writer/Editor
 Some of the challenges faced by leaders today -
1) To get such persons for the organisation who
know more than himself.
2) Have courage to see the reality and act on it.
3) Being a good listener. It appears to be simple
but it is not so.
4) Nurturing potential leaders.
5) Organizations are getting more and more
technologically oriented and speed of technological
change is getting ever faster. Preparing the work
force to accept technological changes is a major
challenge.
 6) Today if we ask the following questions - Is the
recession bottoming out? Any further budget and
staff reductions will be necessary to scale back the
organization to match business requirements? How
rapidly will an economic recovery develop? How can
we renew our business growth?
Because of such uncertainty, confusion, and doubt,
leaders face challenges in fulfilling the roles as HR
leaders, even in fundamental areas. How can we
preserve organizational values and practices that
have been among our business strengths? How will
we remain the preferred place to work among our
vital talent? And how will we help build and
strengthen the organization at the same time as we
are still cutting back?
Col Puneet Sehgal
ARMY
 There are several.....

- To know that you don't have all the answers

- To surround yourself with those that know more
and have a drive to succeed
- To continue to evolve and improve... who you are
today is not who you will be in a few years
- Understanding the difference between managing
and leading
Priscilla Dancy
Manager - Support Operations at Lowe's Companies
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