Hey Mark.

How can you become a strong leader who inspires others, drives people toward excellence, holds people accountable, and instills a sense of trust?

Becoming an effective leader is certainly not an overnight task, but what's really going to matter is consistency in the process.

Good starting points in becoming an effective leader are listed below.

Become a much better leader and solve your problem, click here.

Here are several tutorials and soul searching exercises for you to browse:

How To Be A Strong Leader

How To Be A Confident and Competent Leader

How To Fix and Recover From A Leadership Mistake Quickly

Believe in the vision.

Knowing the vision of the team and actually believing in it is perhaps the most significant step towards becoming an effective leader. At the end of the day, leading a team means inspiring the trust of your team members. And the best way to do that is to prove to them that you believe in the vision.

• What you should first do is develop a good understanding of what the vision is, and determine whether or not it's something you can live up to. Next, use every chance you get to "sell" that vision to the team. Show them that you live and breathe it and they'll eventually realize it's something to grab on to.

Project your goals.

If the people you're leading don't completely understand the deeper meaning in their work, they won't share your vision or work ethic. Every step of the way, communicate with your team to make sure they're on the same wavelength and know what you expect of them.

• Get your team involved in the planning process and the implementation of your ideas. This gives everyone a greater sense of ownership toward the end result.

Be a good team builder.

As a leader, you'll need the support of your team. In selecting your team members, seek people who can understand the vision and support it. Then, identify those who fit the roles they're required to fill.

• Be careful to select the team based on merit, not emotions. Sometimes, when people recognize you've given them an opportunity based on an emotional position, they use every chance they get to play on your emotions for favors. You want team members who know they've been given an opportunity based on merit.

Control yourself.

Every great leader in history has had to become a master of self-discipline and willpower in order to stay focused on the big picture. If you don't have a goal or the drive to achieve it, you can't lead others to attain theirs.

• Follow through in everything you do. As challenging as it may be, you need to be disciplined enough to be where you need to be, when you need to be there, whether you want to or not. By being strong in your resolve and resisting temptation to give up, you are setting an example for others to live up to.
  
  
• Choose your emotional response to a situation carefully. Sometimes you'll need to practice the art of silencing your inner thoughts when they're not appropriate in order to set a positive example.

Know your people.

You can't truly lead a group of people unless you truly understand their hopes, dreams, struggles, pains, and goals. All the good intentions in the world mean nothing unless you have a true sense of the people you're working with.

• Talk to your team and get to know them. Getting to know each other on a personal level will strengthen the bond between you. They'll want to do better for you because you're more than just a "boss."
   
• Be their leader, first, and their friend second. You're their leader and that means that you have to make difficult decisions from time to time. These decisions cannot be affected by personal relationships.

Be a good delegator.

Identifying an ideal team is a success in itself, because you know that the persons you've selected are capable of excelling in the tasks assigned. Now, it’s up to you to assign tasks effectively. Becoming a good delegator will involve the following activities:

• Studying the strengths of each team player so you can effectively match tasks with the skill set.
   
• Analyzing the potential success capabilities of your team so you can make a wise choice when assigning responsibilities.

Praise highly and criticize constructively.

The way you praise and criticize others can make all the difference in being able to lead effectively!

• Make sure you publicly praise the people who do excellent work for you. You'll give the person a sense of accomplishment and the drive to do even better.
   
• When someone does something wrong, offer constructive criticism and do it privately. Suggest solutions on how they can improve and take the time to answer any questions. They'll accept your input more willingly if they know it's done to help and not to harm.

Make the hard call.

There are times when you have to bite the bullet and make some unpleasant decisions. Firing, demoting, and holding people accountable for their actions can be very hard at times. As a leader, it's your responsibility to handle these matters.

Be a good negotiator.

Once you've been able to gain the trust of your team members, your next step is to master your negotiation skills. As a leader, that not only means negotiating with the team so the best results are achieved, but also succeeding at external negotiations in the best interest of your unit.

• Negotiate fairly so others continue to trust you.
   
• Negotiate smartly for the well-being of your unit.