To help you be, know, and do; (U.S. Army, 1973) follow these eleven principles of leadership. Know yourself and seek self-improvement - In order to know yourself, you have to understand your be, know, and do, attributes. Seeking self-improvement means continually strengthening your attributes. This can be accomplished through self-study, formal classes, reflection, and interacting with others.

1. Be technically proficient - As a leader, you must know your job and have a solid familiarity with your employees' tasks.
2. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions - Search for ways to guide your organization to new heights. And when things go wrong, they always do sooner or later -- do not blame others. Analyze the situation, take corrective action, and move on to the next challenge.
3. Make sound and timely decisions - Use good problem solving, decision making, and planning tools.
4. Set the example - Be a good role model for your employees. They must not only hear what they are expected to do, but also see. We must become the change we want to see - Mahatma Gandhi
5. Know your people and look out for their well-being - Know human nature and the importance of sincerely caring for your workers.
6. Keep your workers informed - Know how to communicate with not only them, but also seniors and other key people.
7. Develop a sense of responsibility in your workers - Help to develop good character traits that will help them carry out their professional responsibilities.
8. Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished - Communication is the key to this responsibility.
9. Train as a team - Although many so called leaders call their organization, department, section, etc. a team; they are not really teams...they are just a group of people doing their jobs.
10. Use the full capabilities of your organization - By developing a team spirit, you will be able to employ your organization, department, section, etc. to its fullest capabilities.

Another school of thought suggest there are four major factors in leadership:

Leader
You must have an honest understanding of who you are, what you know, and what you can do. Also, note that it is the followers, not the leader who determines if a leader is successful. If they do not trust or lack confidence in their leader, then they will be uninspired. To be successful you have to convince your followers, not yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of being followed.

Situation
All are different. What you do in one situation will not always work in another. You must use your judgment to decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each situation. For example, you may need to confront an employee for inappropriate behavior, but if the confrontation is too late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove ineffective.

Various forces will affect these factors. Examples of forces are your relationship with your seniors, the skill of your people, the informal leaders within your organization, and how your company is organized.