Leadership success refers to the overall outcomes achieved by a leader in fulfilling their leadership role—whether positive or negative. It reflects the ability of a leader to influence employees and organizational processes in a way that meets defined goals. However, leadership success must be analyzed in light of both effectiveness and efficiency.
Leadership Success: Key Influencing Factors
Leadership success is shaped by multiple factors grouped into three primary categories:
1. The Leader (Supervisor)
The effectiveness of a leader is influenced by:
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Authority and legitimacy in their role
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Personality traits such as intelligence, resilience, persuasiveness
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Human image, ideally aligned with Theory Y of McGregor’s XY Theory, which assumes employees are self-motivated and responsible
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Behavioral style: cooperative, authoritarian, person-oriented, or task-oriented
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Mental and emotional disposition
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Physical fitness
2. The Employees
Employees’ impact on leadership success includes:
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Abilities and competencies
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Attitudes toward the leader
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Behavioral patterns and willingness to cooperate
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Emotional and physical disposition
3. The Leadership Situation
Leadership must be tailored to the surrounding context, including:
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The task itself
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The workplace environment
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The overall working atmosphere
Leadership Efficiency: Measuring Social Impact
While leadership success emphasizes results, leadership efficiency focuses on the social outcomes of leadership behavior. These include:
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Workplace climate
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Conflict resolution or prevalence
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Incidents of mobbing or workplace bullying
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Levels of absenteeism
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Signs of internal resignation (disengagement)
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Employee turnover
Success Factors: Effectiveness vs. Efficiency
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Leadership effectiveness refers to economic performance, including the quantity and quality of work delivered under a leader’s supervision.
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Leadership efficiency represents social effectiveness, focusing on human-centered metrics such as employee well-being and team cohesion.
A truly successful leader demonstrates high effectiveness and high efficiency, aligning strategic goals with employee engagement and long-term organizational health.
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