Key Characteriscics for Effective Leadership Essay

Key Characteriscics for Effective Leadership - Essay Example To be effective, a leader must possess certain characteristics that can bring people together and harness the potentials of these people to execute an activity of series of activities successfully. If the leader does not know how to set his or her organization in the right direction, the organization will not be productive and when an organization is not productive, its people will eventually leave (Blanchard et al 2005). A misguided organization may not even survive in a very competitive environment thus, it is very important for a leader to know how to direct its people and stay in the right course. In today’s business environment, every organization needs the right kind of leader to stay alive and productive in a highly competitive environment. Understanding the nature of leadership by identifying the desirable traits of effective leaders is very important. For the purpose of this essay, we will evaluate the different successful leaders in our modern times to identify the characteristics that made them effective leaders in their fields. To go about these tasks, we will take a look at the work of Jack Welch of General Electric Inc, Steve Jobs of Apple Inc and Bill Gates of Microsoft. General Electric Inc is one of the top companies worldwide and its journey towards the top has been the lifework of its former Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jack Welch. On the other hand, Apple Inc and Microsoft have both revolutionized the world of computers and gadgets in the past decades. In order for a company to move forward and in the right direction, it needs to attract the right kind of leaders to run its affairs. According to Drucker (1967), characteristics of leaders may differ but they always get the right things done and in doing their jobs, these people also utilize their time effectively, organize their tasks according to priorities, focus on the contribution of