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The idea of leadership, what it is, how to do it well, and who does it is surrounded by a great cloud of jargon, debate, and junk theory. But if you are responsible for a group for the first time and if you have just been promoted, then you really need to remember a few things about leadership.

You don't undergo some magical change when you get promoted and become responsible for the performance of a group even though you become a leader. As a matter of fact, to completely adjust to your new role, it will probably take you over a year.

The people in your group treat you like a leader which makes you a leader. You only have one choice, and that's the kind of job you'll do.

When you become a leader your power actually goes down. If you want to improve performance, then you just have to decide to work harder, longer, and smarter as an individual contributor. Being responsible for the performance of a group would mean that your destiny is the group. They choose whether to act or not.

Your influence then goes up when you become a leader. The people who work for you pay attention to what you say and do. They adjust their behavior accordingly.

Using your behavior, as well as what you say and do, is the result that you use in order to influence the behavior of the people who work for you to achieve a defined objective.

Achieving the objective is part of your job as a leader. The other part is caring for your people.

Achieving good short term results even if you don't care for your people may be possible. But in order to achieve long term success for you and your company, you are going to need the cooperation of the best folks you can find.

At the end of the day, you can measure your leadership based on those two standards. Were we able to accomplish the mission? As for the members of my group, were they better off today than yesterday?

From my book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, you can find out more about all of this and learn it almost effortlessly.