There is no accurate definition that can truly describe effective leadership because it is entirely dependent on various situations that were improved and dependent on the nature of the group that is being led as well. There also may be a million strategic approaches an aspiring leader can take in assuming this role, but this is worthless if he or she does not know his people on a personal level. This is because optimum output is dependent solely on employees and the only way an employee performs to his or her utmost capability is if that employee is motivated. Motivation is different for different people and it is a leaders responsibility to identify each and every employees motivational factor to utilize that as a tool in achieving desired results. This being said, employee engagement plays a significant role in affecting change as well as utilizing employee evaluations as a self-assessment tool to measure ones leadership style. A failure of one employee signifies the failure of a leader.

There are several leadership styles that were traditionally practiced in older times but have greatly evolved into ones that are more applicable to the current environment. The autocratic or authoritarian leadership style also known better as dictatorship in which a leader directs a subordinate what to do and the subordinate is given no choice but to follow the directions given. This is not a leadership style is not favored in the modern workplace. The participative or democratic style where as a leader considers the suggestions of his subordinates and more often than not implements one that the group, as a whole, has agreed upon. The Laissez-faire or freestyle leadership whereas the leader leaves the decision making entirely to his subordinates which may work extremely well in a company environment providing that results actually materialize as a group effort but can also be disastrous if group dynamics have not yet been forged. The Narcissistic leadership style is one wherein the leader only assumes the role to impress himself or satiate the hunger for power and not out of competence. Studies have shown that this is surprisingly common style of leadership. Lastly, Toxic leadership where in the leader worsens the situation by abusing his power and leaves the group in a worse condition than before he took over. With this, there are only two leadership styles that one might try, democratic or freestyle, are the two most suited to an office environment. Yet, like indicated before, this is entirely situational on a daily basis. A true leader assesses his leadership style often and contemplates on shortcomings while creating and implementing better strategies in overcoming them.

The only viable way to measure you success as a leader though, is by evaluating your employee. This begins from the time an employee is transferred under your management. What is the progress in the employees performance from his or her initial performance metrics to the current one? What is the consistency in performance? Is there a need for further development and training? Are there skills gap? The process of employee evaluation involves the whole human capital management process end to end. If a consistent database in employee evaluations is available, this can be an immensely effective tool to analyze team performance as a whole. When looking at graphs and reports, you can immediately identify how your employees have progressed within a certain timeline. In the simple terms, consistent rise in performance connotes effective leadership. Hitting a plateau at a certain timeline connotes mediocre leadership meaning there were changes that occurred within this timeline that a leader failed to notice. It is imperative to know what that change is so you can align new leadership strategies with it. Now, if there was no progress at all, then you have ultimately failed. There is still hope however, some companies offer integrated end to end solutions for corporate needs including assessments, training and development to improve overall effective leadership. They can offer their expertise that is supported by proven studies and an exceptional track record in honing talents and skills since the strategies they implement are worth years of research in behavioral science. Remember that, an effective leader can influence change by simple and consistent motivation.