In each case, I have worked with different leaders with different styles, approaches, leadership traits and so on. It seems that there does not exist a one-size-fits-all leader. Leadership styles have varied from bossy to delegating responsibility to laisser faire. Some leaders are very engaged with the group they lead, while others keep them at a distance. The working environment, the ownership structure, public or private sector, the local social-cultural environment, and the personality traits all seem to feed into how leaders lead. And how effective they are.

There are many theories about leadership, wherein leaders are seen from the prism of the impact that they have on their followers. A cursory look at leadership theories shows how they have evolved over time. I will highlight some schools of thought:

• "Great Man" – leaders are born with essential character traits, such as charisma, confidence, intelligence and social skills, whereby they are preordained to be leaders
• Trait – some people are born with key qualities and traits that befit the role of a leader
• Contingency – the environment defines which style of leadership is most appropriate for a particular situation
• Situational – leaders choose the best course of action based upon situational variables
• Behavioral – leaders are made rather than born
• Participative – ideal leadership style is one that takes the input of others into account
• Transactional (exchange) – leaders are effective through a mutual reinforcing environment, followers are motivated to fulfil tasks through rewards and punishments
• Transformational – interaction between the leader and followers lead to a sound relationship which improves trust and will lead to increased motivation of both parties.

At the same time, a plethora of guru books have been published over the decades, either by celebrated leaders sharing their secrets behind their proficiency or by academics sharing collected research or by coach-experts sharing the built-up experience. These guides to leadership often answer overarching questions and/or provide concise and digestible key messages, substantiated with real world illustrations. Some examples:

• John C. Maxwell, author of ‘The Leadership Handbook’, states, “A leader never has to recover from a good start." His book illustrates that the most effective leaders across a wide variety of spectrums have achieved their success by beginning their journey with a question few bother to ask: How do I lead myself?
• David Welch, author of the ‘Leadership Skills Handbook’ asks the questions “What is leadership? What are the qualities of a leader? Are leaders born or made?” He proclaims that nobody is born a leader but may become one, and uses the book to explain the tools and skills needed to be an effective leader.
• In his book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ Stephen R. Covey elaborates on these habits: (1) Be proactive (2) Begin with the end in mind (3) Put first things first (4) Think win/win (5) Seek first to understand, then to be understood (6) Synergize (7) Sharpen the saw

What you can derive from these points-of-view is that the questions and answers on defining a good leader can be pooled from a wide variety of expert views. Good leaders can be defined in how they enable their followers to achieve objectives. Which traits, skills, tools, qualities, et cetera do they have to make things happen? The followers will react favorably or dissatisfactory on how competently the leader acts with these issues in mind.

While working as an Advisor for the IMF in the Western Balkans, I have become more intrigued in leadership approaches. Especially because I have been working on similar implementation objectives across various countries. One thing that stands out is that a great amount of decision-making is often deferred to the (most) senior management – on operational, procedural, and sometimes even technical level. From this, I have observed to a lesser or greater extent that decision-making can become tedious and clogged up, senior managers need to be masters of many proficiencies, a discord between the operational staff and the management can develop in time, or that trust can be gradually eroded over time. A more peculiar form of micromanagement that I have seen was an instance where a minister decided whether the operational staff could attend individual workshops in an ongoing series.

Listening to the various public officials working for different institutions, I have seen that the staff and officials at the lower tiers of institutions have opinions on what good leadership means to them. When do they experience that they are led well? When do they see room for improvement? When do they get frustrated? In essence, as dilettantes, they have front row seats on observing and evaluating the effectiveness of their leaders.

These observations from the Western Balkans fit in with the conversations I have had with the many colleagues, in a wide variety of settings, over the years on how they experience their leadership. As much as people will tell you how much they like or dislike their work, this will often be coupled with an opinion of their leaders. One thing you can rely on is that people complain more often about their leaders than provide a complement – it is in our human nature.

The opinions can vary from negative:

• ‘my boss is so lazy’
• ‘the director is always telling people what to do, but he doesn’t have a clue’
• ‘my manager asks me to drop everything and gives this huge task to finish by tonight’

to positive:

• ‘if I ask my project leader to arrange something, I know she will deliver’
• ‘the manager really looks after us the staff’
• ‘the owner of the company creates such a nice vibe – I love coming to work’.

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