8 QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE LEADER - EMEKA ANSLEM

It’s amazing how, whenever a leadership meeting or conference is announced, only a select few show genuine interest. Many people have wrongly assumed that leadership is reserved for those who are appointed or elected to lead others. To them, leadership begins with position, title, or public recognition. But that’s a great misconception.

Leadership doesn’t begin with appointment — it begins with creation. The moment you were born into this world, you were designed to lead. Whether you’re conscious of it or not, you started leading from birth. The question isn’t if you’re a leader; the real question is how well are you leading?

Your leadership determines the direction your life will take and the kind of results that will surround you. If you refuse to lead your life intentionally, then time and chance will take over that responsibility — and trust me, time and chance don’t always lead where you desire to go. If you’re not leading yourself, something else is.

As far as humanity is concerned, leadership is everything. It’s a fundamental system that should be part of every child’s learning from the first grade. Leadership isn’t just about position or power; it’s a process of maturation — a system through which every man becomes the best version of himself.

If you study creation carefully, you’ll discover that leadership is built into life itself. Take a newborn baby, for example. The baby comes into the world with a single vision — to grow. Every one of us came with a vision, and within that vision are tools or qualities that help us lead ourselves and others towards it.

Now, the only tool a newborn baby has is crying. Yet that tool is powerful enough to move everyone around it into action. When a baby cries, it’s a sign that something is wrong — maybe hunger, discomfort, or pain. The moment that sound goes out, parents and caregivers immediately respond. The baby’s leadership is so effective that you cannot resist its cry.

Imagine we were having a serious conference right now, and a baby suddenly began to cry in this room — the atmosphere would immediately shift. Everyone’s attention would turn to that sound until the baby is attended to. Even if the parents ignore the cry, others will rise to the occasion because the leadership of that cry demands a response.

Why? Because the vision of the baby — growth and survival — aligns with everyone’s value for life. When people can see themselves or their own progress in your vision, they will naturally follow you.

That’s the secret of effective leadership. Can your leadership be so compelling that people see their own growth tied to your vision? Think about it — when Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook, he didn’t just start a social media platform; he started a movement that now feeds millions of people around the world. His vision became so intertwined with people’s progress that if Facebook or Instagram crashes for just five minutes, it makes global news. Why? Because countless people depend on that vision for their daily livelihood.

You see, the apex of leadership isn’t just when people believe in your vision — it’s when they depend on it. Those who believe in your vision can change their minds anytime, but those who depend on your vision will find it difficult to give up on you.

However, leadership evolves. While crying may be an effective tool for a baby, that same cry becomes ineffective when the child grows older. At a certain point, the parents will expect the child to communicate more clearly. Later on, communication alone won’t be enough; the child must now develop good character and responsibility. The more a person grows, the more is expected from them — and the more people give to you, the more they expect from you.

I’ve seen this firsthand with my two beautiful daughters. Both have unique personalities. My first daughter prefers to do things herself; she insists on feeding herself, brushing her teeth, and fetching her snacks. My second daughter, however, prefers to be attended to. Even if you open the container of plantain chips for her, she won’t take any until you fetch one and hand it to her. And even then, she’d take only one piece at a time. If she turns and doesn’t find your hands ready with the snack, she’d burst into crying, which we immediately attend to.

So while crying still works for my second daughter, that same cry might be ignored when my first daughter does it. For her to continue being effective in her journey of growth, she must develop new qualities that suit her current level. If she doesn’t, her growth — her very vision — might become a burden to me rather than a joy.

This is where the role of a parent becomes twofold — as a follower of the child’s leadership and as the child’s first leadership coach. Parents teach their children new tools, new ways to express their leadership more effectively. I’ve had to teach my first daughter how to brush properly, how to use the potty, and eventually, how to use the convenience. Each lesson wasn’t random; it was an upgrade in her leadership skills — tools that help her lead herself towards growth.

As she improves, her influence expands — from her parents to her sister, from her sister to her classmates, and eventually to her colleagues, community, and perhaps, the nation. That’s how leadership grows.

Effective leadership, therefore, is about using the right tools — the right qualities — that sustain the joy and trust of those who believe in and depend on your vision. The moment your leadership becomes a burden, people begin to withdraw. When followers become weary of your vision, it’s a sign that your leadership qualities need renewal.

Why do people relocate from one country to another? Why do employees resign from certain organizations? Why do church members change congregations? The answer is simple —leadership. When people stop seeing progress in your vision, they move to where they can. It’s human nature.

Think of traffic jams: if your lane is stuck and another lane starts moving, what do you do? You change lanes. People don’t follow you because they like your vision — they follow you because they can see their progress within your vision. The moment your vision becomes a roadblock to their growth, they’ll find another lane.

And just because you pay people doesn’t mean they’ll stay loyal. If you use money to attract followers, you’ll need more money to keep them. But if your leadership inspires progress, people will stay even when it’s tough, because they see their future in you.

So what then is leadership?

It is leading yourself in such a way that you attract the followership of those who either want to be identified with what you do or have the potential to do what you do.

A true leader will always have two kinds of people around him:

• Those who simply want to be identified with him, and
• Those who desire to do what he does.

Both groups stay close because they see their growth tied to your direction.

Having established this, it’s time to uncover eight leadership qualities that will make you an effective leader — not just in title or position, but in influence, relevance, and impact.