Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes. Peter F. Drucker

Follow this story. Have you met Paul? Paul calls himself a great leader. Paul points to the success of his organization. Paul keeps communication to a minimum so that he can control what his employees know. He tells his staff hes protecting them. His employees do a great job because they want to keep their jobs. Unfortunately, Pauls employees hate him. If you want an effective team, you better be communicating with them. Effective leaders understand that fact. Many organizations keep a scorecard on their performance. In the leadership world, researchers also analyze leadership effectiveness. Yukl, author of Leadership in Organizations, notes that there is no accepted definition for leadership effectiveness; however, it can be seen as the consequences of the leaders actions for followers and other stakeholders. Indicators of leadership results are varied. However, the avenue business only looks at a leaders organizational unit performance of its work tasks.

One of the most intuitive tools for leadership effectiveness is evaluating the follower satisfaction of its leader. As a young employee, I watched the implementation of a 360-degree appraisal system for my organization. To make it work, employees were promised anonymity in this computerized system. It was a reality check for most managers. Employees were encouraged to be honest. Individuals obtained feedback from customers, suppliers, direct reports, and first line supervisors. Some were pleasantly surprised while others were shocked. Egos were deflated. Do you feel that your employees can give a candid feedback about your leadership effectiveness without any career consequences? If this is not the case, today is a perfect time to improve your relationship with your staff. You can start today!

Reference:

Yukl, G. (2002). Leadership in Organizations. Delhi, India: Pearson Education.

(c) 2006 by Daryl D. Green