The British Army suggests there are 5 steps to being an effective leader.

1. Draw up a plan: Everything starts from here. You need to know what you’re doing and then decide how to do it and what your soldiers’ roles will be.
2. Get behind it: There’s no point having a plan if you’re not prepared to back it up. If your soldiers sense that you don’t believe in it, they could soon lose confidence in you as a leader.
3. Listen to experience: The chances are that some of the more experienced soldiers you’re leading will have done something similar before. Ask them what they think and take their views on board.
4. Stay flexible: The Army have a saying that ‘no plan survives first contact with the enemy’, because something always happens to change it. You need to know how to adapt and change the plan to suit the situation.
5. Admit when you’re wrong: Only the worst leaders stick to a bad plan… and keep going. If it’s all gone wrong, you need to have the strength to admit it, look at where you made mistakes and put them right next time.

Reference

Camouflage (2014) How To Be An Effective Leader. Available from World Wide Web: http://army.mod.uk/camouflage/203.aspx. [Accessed: 12 January, 2014].