In an increasingly competitive world, organizational structure and effectiveness within businesses are key concepts. Effective leadership skills can improve the growth and success of an organization as well as internally, create a healthy and functional work environment for employees. It is important to recognize the importance of good leadership skills and how they affect the work process in an organization. This essay will identify leadership and provide definitions and how it is evaluated. It will further identify the commonly known traits of a successful leader and the importance of emotional intelligence. Finally, this essay will explain the “contingency theory” in order to better understand other factors, besides personal traits and characteristics, that can influence the effectiveness of a leader. leadership abilities. An organization's long-term success depends on its ability to leverage the skills and knowledge of its employees. In an increasingly competitive environment, organizations must motivate their employees and encourage initiative within the organization. This new organizational climate requires more than a traditional manager and organizations must find ways to develop their leadership skills in order to increase their effectiveness and remain competitive. In any organization, leadership is often considered a critical factor in success or failure. We can also say that a leader can be a manager but that a manager is not always necessarily a leader (Gandz, Crossan, Seijts & Reno 2014). It is therefore vital for organizations to recognize the traits and techniques that define success...... middle of article ......rson & Rowland 1973, p. 407). Leaders can be divided into two categories: relationship-oriented leaders and task-oriented leaders. Depending on the situation and context, one of the two will be more suited to the specific environment. Task-oriented leaders focus on the outcome and the relationship-oriented leader is more effective at communicating and creating relationships and long-term goals. The relationship-oriented leader is one who potentially possesses a higher level of emotional intelligence, due to their empathic aspects. It is therefore argued that it depends on the leadership style, the situation of the organization and the context which makes one leader more successful than another. This means that a leader may have attributes that will be better suited to a certain context or organization and will therefore work more effectively to achieve goals (Hunt 1967, p.. 302).