Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here.

* * *

When a new work group forms, people often make snap judgments about who is qualified to lead. The attitude with which you enter a new group — something completely within your control — can help boost your chances of leading it.

To achieve higher status and more influence, get in the right mind-set before engaging with new teammates.

Try this simple five-minute exercise: write about your ambitions and what you hope to achieve in life, and recall a time when you felt happy or powerful.

Recent research shows that study subjects who did exactly that were more likely than others to speak up, steer decision making, and be viewed by their teammates as leaders — both in initial group meetings and in follow-up meetings two days later.

Adapted from Be Seen as a Leader by Adam D. Galinsky and Gavin J. Kilduff.

To check out that article, please click here.

Also, you may wish to check out an anthology, Management Tips from Harvard Business Review, by clicking here.