Leadership is, first and foremost, a complex human endeavor and has existed since Adam and Eve. It manifests everywhere and in everyone. It is also interpreted in different ways by different people. Similarly, the path to effective leadership has led to divergent opinions, different theories, and approaches. Yet, a serious limitation on the study of leadership is lack of serious attention on the impact of culture. For instance, despite the scholarly distinction attained thus far by the Contingency Leadership Model, the contemporary leadership paradigm remains deeply influenced by a peculiar code of Western philosophy inspired by outdated theories or mundane misconception of classic theories. This book squarely addresses such limitations. The framework involved a comparative analysis of patterns of leadership in human societies, particularly the United States of America (USA) and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The choice of USA and Nigeria is instructive. Basic similarities exist between the two countries. Among them are abundant natural and human resources, British colonization, ethnic diversity, and presidential system of government, to name a few. However, even though the two countries are usually mentioned in opposite trajectory in terms of development, each of them has its share of leadership problems. On the one hand, even as the USA is generally viewed as a bastion for good leadership, the country is facing critical problems in breakdown in moral values, mounting crime rates, falling academic standards, job flights, increasing unemployment, reckless loss of lives through gun violence in American cities, vain wars, huge national debt, corporate greed and huge corporate losses and shutdowns. On the other hand, despite her abundant resources, Nigeria is beset with leadership crisis in all fronts. In this book, an attempt was made to utilize the fundamental principles of contingency leadership theory to identify the root of the problems. The main questions focused on why individuals, organizations, and nations are not able to provide effective leadership for an extended period. The study explored the ideal conditions for developing and sustaining effective leadership in different environments. It entailed analyzing relevant leadership models, diverse culture and peoples, and systems, and relating them to practical examples. Remarkably, the study critically evaluated the three common propositions in contemporary discussions of leadership, viz., Great Leader, Great Society, and Institutions. Thereafter, it examined common patterns between USA and Nigeria and similar societies on important aspects of human, national, and societal development. The method consisted of reviewing existing literature on the nature and processes of individual, organizational, and national leadership. It required interviewing leaders, holding focus groups, and analyzing innocent opinions from a diverse group of elites. The information from the different cases was organized into a cross-case comparative format, common patterns and themes. These patterns and themes are compared throughout the book with relative data from different nations, particularly the USA and Nigeria. In so doing, the study identified critical deficiencies of many influential theories. Finally, this book provokes a sturdy framework to explore novel approaches to leadership. Readers will be particularly interested in the stimulating findings from the critical analysis of the relationship between freedom, control, and leadership. Most strikingly, the Effective Leadership Formula is a rich stew of pragmatic proposals, including empirical definitions for effective leadership as well as effective democracy. Best of all, the book features a new leadership model for producing and sustaining effective leadership in any given environment.