In your next interaction with a boss, client or anyone with power over you, find one way to make them feel like the smartest person in the room. Ask for their opinion on something you already know the answer to. Credit them for an idea they contributed to. Notice how the dynamic shifts.

Review the people you currently rely on most. For each, ask: do they perform well because they are capable and motivated – or because they are comfortable? Identify one relationship where comfort may be masking underperformance.

Think of a current project or goal that others might have an interest in blocking or co-opting. Identify one person you have been too transparent with. Decide what information is genuinely necessary to share – and what can remain private without causing harm.

In your next important meeting or negotiation, set yourself a rule: speak only when you have something that genuinely needs to be said. Count how many times you speak out of habit, nervousness or the desire to fill silence. Then practise letting the silence sit for three seconds longer than feels comfortable.

Do an honest assessment of your current reputation in your professional environment. What do people say about you when you are not in the room? Ask one trusted person to tell you honestly. Then identify one specific behaviour that might be undermining how you are perceived – and change it.

Identify one area of your professional life where you have been doing good work but staying invisible. What would it take to make that work more visible – not by self-promotion, but by creating something or taking an action that others naturally talk about?

List your current responsibilities. Identify one task that consumes significant time but could be done by someone else. What is stopping you from delegating it? Now identify what you would do with the time recovered – and whether that represents higher-value work.