Have you ever noticed how some recently hired or promoted leaders relate as if they were in a prison movie? They show up, look around for the biggest, ugliest inmate in the cafeteria. Then they slap down his food tray and jump into a fight. Establish dominance. Show no fear. Immediately.

Others want to be everyone’s friend. Very sensitive to the legacy of the outgoing leader. Buddies with everyone. Really, never mind that I sign your checks and hire and fire. We’re all the same here! (Please like me!)

Some become masters of process and systems. Often skilled in a profession or in leading a very specific size or type of team. Now they are outside of their comfort zone. But they sure do have the requisition process down. Dear Robert will never have to worry about his Rules being forgotten. They burrow deep within a bureaucratic labyrinth secure in the perception that no one will discover that they aren’t really sure what to do next.

And then there are the reformers. The visionaries. Energetic. Drive. Popping with ideas. They interview great. Aside from the tendency to approach “whatever was” as something that was probably wrong. Sometimes they start out with a wrecking ball. Others are a little more sophisticated and pull bricks out of the walls at night – when no one is looking.

Perhaps you have a different scenario that comes to mind. Perhaps you were the star of your scenario.

My familiarity comes from having tried to do a little of each throughout my leadership journey. Not a consistent generator of success. Not that everything I led failed. But I sure made some situations needlessly difficult. I think I also hurt or offended people along the way. None of which add up to ideal leadership scenarios.

Here is what does work. Whenever you are brought into a new position of leadership, any kind of new position, there are three tasks that you have to accomplish. Figure out how to accomplish them and you are golden. Botch it on any one of the three, and you’ll slow down or handicap your effectiveness as a leader.

The Three Tasks for Leaders Who Want to Start Strong:

1. Care About the People and Organization. Yes. I am starting with the fluffy bunny stuff.

Leadership is, more than anything else, a relationship. It is a relationship between those who lead and those who follow. If you want to actually be followed (As opposed to driving, coercing, pushing, cajoling, etc.) you need to care about those you lead. They need to feel cared about.

This doesn’t mean that you need to be (or even should be) buddies with everyone. It does mean that you take the time to understand what is important to those you are leading and how to best serve their interests. If you can do that (and the other three tasks below) you’ll have their loyalty and you’ll go far.

Here is a little tool for determining what you should care about:

• People: Get to know individuals. Especially your direct reports. But as many people as you can. Learn about them. Learn about their dreams and aspirations. Learn what is frustrating them. Take time to listen.
• Relationships: For most people, work is one of the most important social settings they are in. Learn which relationships are particularly important to people. Learn which conflicts seem to exist. Learn who enjoys working together and who doesn’t. How does it relate to its customers or whomever it serves? If a team or department – learn about how your team or department has related to other teams or departments. If a whole organization – how has it related to other partners, venders, customers?
• Structures: This has to do with systems and processes. Is there a strong relationship between the “formal structure” of the organization (how decisions are made, how information is shared) and how things are actually done? Are people helped or burdened by existing processes? Do processes and structures all serve to advance the mission of team or organization? (Or, like most, were they cut and paste from someone else’s manual?)
• Culture: What is important to this team or organization? Why? What seems to be its deepest values? What is its “origin story?” What is its “meaning in life?” These are deep questions – you don’t have to lead a retreat to get at the answers. (Although that could be interesting.)

Caring doesn’t mean agreeing or accepting. But it means that you are taking the time to learn & value the realities & experiences & perceptions of the people you are leading.

It helps you avoid the critical (and common) error of being leader-centric.

2. Bring Value Quickly and Regularly: People want to know if you can deliver. Can you help them do their jobs? Always bring value. Always wrestle with the question of “how can I bring more value to this person? This situation? This team?”
   • Make a list: As you are working on #1 (above) start making a list of items, needs, and desires that appear to be of high value to both your team or organization and the individuals you lead.
   • Low-Hanging Fruit: Start out with simple, quick actions that make an observable difference. If the janitorial contractors have been lousy – get new ones. If meetings have been traditionally boring and unproductive – make small changes to keep them purposeful and engaging.
   • Plan to Bring Greater Value: For the more complicated kinds of value, or the needs that the team has that they may not recognize – build and work your plan for delivering that value.
   • Deliver on the Greater Value: You’d think it goes without saying. But too many leaders say and don’t do. Follow through and deliver.

3. Establish Your Credibility: People want to know that they can trust you. If you have achieved your position through a process viewed as credible to others – you inherit an element of credibility. You’ll need to maintain that. Credibility is like a living organism. You can’t ignore it and expect it to thrive.

If there are some doubts about how you were selected, or about the leader(s) who selected you, you are starting from a credibility deficit. Don’t fight it. But don’t accept it. You’ll need to quickly get to work to establish yourself as a credible leader.

• How to Build and Maintain Credibility: Do what you say you will do. All the time. Every time.

That’s it.

If you say something and you do it – people will pick up on the pattern. If you say things and don’t do them (it doesn’t matter how much you wanted to, or who got in your way) people pick up on that pattern.

• How to Re-build or Recover: If, for some reason, you can’t follow through— address it immediately. Own it (and if appropriate) offer a Plan B. Don’t hope that people will forget.

Now, if you what you said you were going to do was a mistake or a poor decision or out of alignment with important team/organizational values—Own it. Acknowledge it. Accept the consequences. Learn and move on.

A good, well-owned recovery from a mistake, on its own, will build credibility. You don’t have to get it right every time. You just need to demonstrate your commitment to getting it right over the long haul.

So, these are the three things that work. They’ll work if you are brand, spanking new to leadership or a grizzled, old executive with a new company.

In your new (or last new) leadership role – which of the three has come most easily to you? Which of the three is the most challenging?