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the year. When I inquired about how he had reached such a high level at such a young age, Joe assured me that it was not his educational background—he had done well in his studies but had not gone to an elite school. Instead, he attributed his success to extensive reading—he read at least one nonfiction book a week—and to his practice of structured self-reflection. After every significant meeting or interaction, he would make notes in a small notebook. He would write down what had gone well and what hadn’t, what people had said and done, and the outcome of the meeting. That notebook captured his thoughts about what had transpired so that he could make future interactions more effective; and the discipline of writing fostered reflection and also imprinted the insights more forcefully into his consciousness.

Dr. Modesto “Mitch” Maidique, a Cuban American who served as the president of Florida International University for 23 years and previously ran two companies and served as a partner in the investment banking firm Hambrecht and Quist, has had a distinguished career in both the profit and nonprofit world. When I asked him what leadership habits he thought made him effective, his response was immediate: making notes about decisions, meetings, and other interactions and reflecting on what he had done well or poorly so that he could improve his skills.

There is no learning and personal development without reflection. Andy Hargadon, a business school professor at University of California–Davis, has noted that many people who think they have 20 years of experience really don’t—they just have one year of experience repeated 20 times. Structured reflection takes time. It also requires the discipline to concentrate, make notes, and think about what you are doing. But it is very useful in building a path to power.

Confidence

Two decades ago, I watched Dr. Frances K. Conley, the first female full professor of neurosurgery, in action. On one occasion she met with her surgical fellows and then with a patient with a malignant brain tumor. Even today, treatments for cancerous brain tumors aren’t often successful, and some 20 years ago, the treatment options were even more limited. With her trainees, Dr. Conley exhibited uncertainty about what to do and asked for their thoughts. But when she walked into the patient’s room, she became a different person. Without denying the seriousness of the situation or glossing over the prognosis, Dr. Conley spoke confidently about what she recommended as a course of treatment. When I later asked her about her changed demeanor, Dr. Conley replied that there is some placebo effect as well as an effect of attitude and spirit on the course of disease; therefore, she did not want the patient to give up or become depressed. Had she expressed self-doubt, the patient might have left to seek treatment elsewhere, from people or facilities less qualified to provide state-of-the-art care.

Formal job titles and positions can provide influence and power. But in many situations, you will be working with peers or with outsiders who may not know your formal status. And in any case, observers are going to try and figure out if they should take you seriously or not. Consequently, you need to seize control of the situation. In making decisions about how much power and deference to accord others, people are naturally going to look to the other’s behavior for cues. Because power is likely to cause people to behave in a more confident fashion, observers will associate confident behavior with actually having power. Coming across as confident and knowledgeable helps you build influence.

Amanda was a middle-aged, talented executive sent by her large, successful consumer products company to get a master’s degree in management. The very fact that the company sent her and paid her salary and her tuition during the one-year program signaled they had great expectations. The question was, could she leverage the opportunity? In the spring, Amanda began thinking about her organizational reentry. She drafted an e-mail she was going