The purpose of this paper was to review existing literature on leadership theories and the desired competencies of the 21st Century Organization Leader, collect and summarize empirical evidence that fits within the context of this study. The modern organization is operating in a context of complex problems that are non-predictable, dynamic and do not have definite solutions.  This is coupled with the global sustainability issues of pandemics, global terrorism and environmental pollution, among others. The 21st Century leader needs to have competencies that are sustainable for the present, the future and have capabilities for survival in this digital era.  The world is not static and as it evolves, so has leadership evolved and leaders require competencies that will help run the 21st century organization successfully.  There are constant changes in the speed of communication, expansive networks that are needed to run organizations and the upsurge in trade volumes.  All these have altered the ways that a leader can achieve organizational efficiency and effectiveness.  From the literature review findings, leaders need to be intelligent, manage change, lead teams, manage performance and communicate effectively.  These competencies enable them to understand and adapt relevant leadership theories that have practical value and can help them to better understand, predict and control the highly dynamic contemporary organization.

The purpose of this paper is to review existing literature on employee characteristics, contemporary human resource management practices and organization effectiveness. A framework was then developed that can be used by future leaders to make organizations more effective.  This paper used a literature review of journals on employee characteristics, human resource management practices and organization effectiveness.  The purpose of this review was to collect and summarize empirical evidence from literature that fits within the context of this study.  Organization leaders face the unsurmountable task of achieving organization effectiveness using the limited resources at their disposal. From the literature review findings, organization effectiveness is achievable so long as the management recruits employees with the desirable characteristics, puts into place contemporary human resource management practices to manage the employees.  This will help the organization to achieve its goals, acquire resources and satisfy stakeholders.