What makes someone an effective leader?

My journey to answering this question has been anything but conventional, but it’s taught me one crucial lesson: great leadership starts with how you lead yourself.

I began as a union leader, gaining firsthand insight into what employees need to feel valued and engaged. This experience grounded me in workplace dynamics and reinforced how a leader’s self-awareness and accountability directly shape team success.

From there, I transitioned into HR and organisational development, where I designed strategies to help leaders strengthen emotional intelligence, make clear decisions, and turn struggling teams into better performing ones.

Throughout my career, I’ve led teams, run businesses, and coached leaders at all levels across various organisational structures. Time and again, I’ve seen that strong self-leadership is the foundation for effective people leadership.

You can’t lead with confidence if you’re stuck in old patterns and ways of thinking. You can’t create clarity for your team if you’re operating from overwhelm and uncertainty. That’s why, as a leadership strategist and creator of the Empowered Leaders Program, I focus on self-leadership first—because how well you lead others starts with how well you lead yourself

My approach is different because it’s rooted in real-world experience, practical strategies, and a deep commitment to bringing out the best in every leader I work with—not theory or one-size-fits-all solutions.

Confident leadership grows from within, creating clarity and impact that ripple through entire organisations.

Andrea Tunjic

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreatunjic/