Power: Why Some People Have It—and Others Don't

One implication of this phenomenon for you is that the specific organization or domain in which you rise to power may matter less than the fact that you manage to achieve high-level status someplace. The prestige and power that come from achieving a senior position will generalize to some extent to other contexts, providing you with status there as

Avoid using a script or notes.

Because power is likely to cause people to behave in a more confident fashion, observers will associate confident behavior with actually having power.

As you burnish you image, you need to be cognizant of the self-promotion dilemma and figure out some ways around it.

What was surprising was the type of social ties that mattered in the job-finding process: weak ties.8

I have come to believe that the biggest single effect I can have is to get people to try to become powerful.

The many involuntary departures at partnerships occur with particular frequency when times are tough. Research shows what common sense suggests is true: political struggles are more likely to occur and to be more fierce and power is used more often when resources are scarcer and therefore there is more struggle over their allocation.

One reason why asking works is that we are flattered to be asked for advice or help—few things are more self-affirming and ego-enhancing than to have others, particularly talented others, seek our aid.

the people you are closest to, your close friends and family, are more likely to travel in the same circles, be close to each other also, and therefore provide redundant information.