Rarely does one person, by oneself, make a company work on its own. Unfortunately, we’re not all Steve. A company does not run by itself. If it would, then it would mean that a football team is trained by itself, or the stock market hits roof high every Thursday at noon. It takes a team, a union of  people guided by one collective thought – how to make the business bloom.

But running a business and make it prosperous does not equal managing one. It means showing a sense of innate leadership that motivates every person involved: from the CEO to the marketer, HR-responsible, sales representative and front-office welcoming pro.

Of course, everyone you meet has different values, opinions, attitudes, beliefs, cultural values, work habits, goals, ambitions and dreams. Does all this make one a leader? Fortunately, leaders are made, not born. Just as entrepreneurs . You learn to become a leader by studying what other excellent leaders have done before you. Step one is to become proficient in your job or skill, and then become proficient at understanding the motivations and behaviors of people around you. Consequently, the best investment one makes as a person, followed by as a leader, is the people one loves and influences, the dreams one has and living a life that matters.

There are many views on what makes a great leader. And the list of qualities and skills goes on and on from: “never blame”, “don’t tell”, “understand”, “brainstorm”, “be sympathetic”, to “lead by example”, “be decisive” or “be firm”. But what seems to be the winning ticket is the ability of a leader to think in term of “we” instead of “I”. When the team succeeds, every member deserves and takes credit; and every member must share responsibility for failures. This approach is a good way of gaining employee buy-in for tough decisions.

As a leader and entrepreneur at the same time, one must build trust and confidence among others and learn to communicate effectively. But how can leaders built trust? Trust can be built if one starts demonstrating what working hard really is, by maintaining a constant message and managing to solve from the silliest problems colleagues show to the cutting edge business crisis situations. The CEO’s involvement in all the situations a company goes through, yields high employee satisfaction and therefore commitment.

Effective communication both inside the company, as well as with partners and collaborators is equally critical to successful leadership. Having a clear message in mind and not sending out mixed signals is the first step for a unitary communication. And when you think of the array of channels we have to deal with presently, keeping it short and simple is a success in itself. It would not hurt to remember a simple marketing message: K.I.S.S or Keep is Short and Simple

Executive coach and professor Marshall Goldsmith believes that: “Leadership is providing inspiration and vision, then developing and empowering others to achieve this vision.” It is clear that when thinking of the basic traits a leader should show, charisma, trust, integrity, dedication, and the ability to effectively communicate their vision and inspire people to accomplish it as a close-knit team, are among the most important ones. There are programs which offer formal training for leadership, as well as business mentoring, being tools which one can use to shape the diamond.

Napoleon Bonaparte mentioned that a leader is: “a dealer in hope”. Perhaps more important than anything else is that  leadership in business is a critical element to navigating the troubled waters of the 2011 unsteady economy. Businesses nowadays may not be looking for the next Steve Jobs, as a business miracle is hard to achieve twice in this lifetime. But, one leader should strive for is the natural flow of running a business, and making it look just as easy as riding a bike: if I can do it, you can do it too.

And a closing line, who’s the leader that inspires you the most? We’re surely curious to know your view on the matter and see if great minds think alike.