You may be a new leader in your organization.  

It’s a new role for you; a new opportunity for you to have a tremendous impact.  

But if you don’t do the right thing, the right way, at the right time — it could be disastrous for you.  

There’s nothing worse than seeing a new leader start to flounder.  

When you start to flounder, the people who report to you will immediately second guess whether you deserve the job in the first place.  

If they start to second guess you, it becomes harder for you to lead them. 

As a new leader, you’ve got to thrive. 

You cannot afford to have doubt about your position.  

Some people think just because you get a title or a new office, all of a sudden everybody is supposed to listen to you. 

You’re entitled to credibility because of your title, but only for one day. 

And then the next day you have the earn it every single day.  

So the question is, how do you earn credibility as a new leader?  

How do you establish yourself to the team around you? 

How do you prove to them that you were the right choice for a leader and the right choice for long-term? 

Here is what you can do. 

1. Meet with your direct reports. 

Have one-on-one meetings with your direct reports. 

I’m not talking about a five-minute meeting to say, “I’m the boss.” 

I mean at least a 45-minute meeting. 

If you’re a leader in a good organization, you shouldn’t have more than five direct reports.  

If you have more than five direct reports, that’s a problem.  

You have too much control or too much span of control. 

Find a way to narrow that.  

If you’ve got five direct reports, you should take five hours this week to sit down with each of them. 

In those meetings, first, you want to understand who they are as an individual.  

What makes them tick?  

Why did they choose to work at your organization?  

Why do they continue to be there?  

Are they a little salty that you’re the new leader, or are they excited to have a new leader? 

You’ve got to get to know who they are.  

You’ve got to understand the value that they bring to the table; what ideas they have and what they want to see change under your leadership. 

2. Build a list 

Build a list from each one-on-one meeting. 

Ask each person to give the names of five people that you should talk to about how to do work in the organization. 

You want them to give you the names of five people that you could also do one-on-one meetings with. 

If you talk to five or your direct report leaders, and they all gave you five names each, now there’s 25 new people that you’ll have the opportunity to go sit down with. 

These people will give you a different perspective of what’s going on in the organization.  

You need this perspective if you really want to make a difference, change the culture and establish yourself as a leader.  

These 25 people are going to give you new ideas.  

They’re going to give you different tools that can give you all kinds of insights to use to build a platform of changing the culture in the organization.  

If your direct reports gave you those five names, these are five people that they trust and they think are important.  

This is going to help you to reinforce the trust cycle of the top 25 leaders.  

You can put together a plan that involves and engages them so they can feel like they’re a part of your growth and journey as a leader.  

If you do these things, you’ll have a big impact as a new leader in an organization.