This article is based on a Norwegian study. The focus is two-fold, including the views of both new teachers and leaders on the issue of leadership and professionalism. First, the focus is on the way newly qualified teachers describe how they function in the school and kindergarten organizations. The discussion explores how new teachers' meetings with these organizations influence their daily life as teachers, and thereby their progress toward proficiency. Secondly, the focus shifts from the perspective of the new teachers to that of the organization leaders, who emphasize that professional competence is complex. In their view, it includes important aspects of the teacher's role such as authority, leadership and how to act as teachers--important elements in the development of professionalism in this field the first years as teachers.