Four Common Characteristics of Effective Leaders Have you ever wondered if you or someone you know is a natural leader? Are you interested in learning some characteristics of good leadership? If so, here are some common personality characteristics inherent in effective leaders: Task-Oriented Are you the kind of person who likes to get things done? Do people come to you and ask you to do something for them and know you'll do it? Not everyone is task-oriented, but effective leaders often are. Being task-oriented means being a "doer," the kind of person who focuses on getting something done and not stopping until the task is finished. Task-oriented people generally follow through. This is important in a leader, because leaders have definite goals to reach and people to lead, and people will stop following you if you don't get things finished. Also, task-oriented leaders do not need "babysitting" to get something done....