What makes an effective Executive/leader?

An effective executive is the one who diligently work towards identifying the best way
forward for his/her organization, takes responsible decisions and actions to implement them
and motivate his/her employees and co-workers to achieve higher standards of productivity
and excellence. There are few important traits that an effective leader need to possess, i.e. a
clear vision about goals and objectives, a thorough understanding of his/her teams needs and
abilities, self-assessment ability and decisiveness.
One of the most important aspects of being an effective executive or leader is the ability to
communicate. On one hand, leader should be able to perceive the problems and requirements
of people he leads. On the other hand, he should share his vision and plans with the team to
keep everyone informed and motivated. In large organizations, it becomes very important and
rather difficult to keep all employees aligned with the overall organizational goals and values.
The leader needs to ensure that the information system in the organization is efficient and
thus, each individual is aware of organizational objectives and policies.
An executive/leader should be open to new experiences, new opportunities, new ideas and
feedback on his decisions and actions. Firstly, it improves decision-making ability in a
dynamic external environment where organization needs to adapt to changing consumer
demand and competition. Secondly, this creates a healthy work environment inside the
organization as everybody, i.e. superiors, peers or subordinates feel valued and important as
their ideas are duly considered. Thirdly, openness to feedback and self-assessment is another
important aspect of being an effective leader. As Peter Drucker has said, In areas where they
are simply incompetent, smart executives dont make decisions or take actions. They
delegate. Everyone has such areas, for an executive, appropriate delegation of tasks is very
important for the welfare of the organization as a whole.
An executive or leader should be organized, thoughtful and forward looking. He/she should
be responsive to peoples needs and try to empower employees or subordinates. Bill Gates
said at the beginning of 21st century, as we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be
those who empower others. A leader is required to build trust, gain confidence of people
he/she is working with, take decisions which are in the interest of employees and organization
and motivate through his/her own actions and dedication. He/she should follow ethical
practices, be honest and impartial/fair towards all employees. A leader should facilitate
growth of employees by providing them appropriate feedbacks and guiding them in the right
direction.
In summary, an executive to be effective needs to possess team building ability and ability to
influence employees to work collaboratively towards a common goal in a structured manner.
Decision making requires proper identification of the problem or objective at hand,
assessment of the requirements for the same, a well-analysed action plan, taking ownership of
the decisions and a methodical implementation to achieve targets.