The Bravery Trick Book Launch - Coming May 14th, 2024!

Excellius Leadership Development

Ways to Take Responsibility for Your Own Success

I have a new book coming out in April 2020 called Drive Your Career: 9 High-Impact Ways to Take Responsibility for Your Own Success. In this book, I share experiences and advice on how to successfully navigate your way through ever-changing work environments.

Three Things That Are Bigger Than You Think They Are

The list of advice for this book could be endless. Here are three pieces of advice that are not in the book, yet are incredibly important. In my experience working in corporations and as a leadership coach, I don’t think you recognize that these items are bigger (and more important) than you think they are. When working in ever-changing work environments, try to ensure that…

Have a crisp and clean office area

You may be a very active leader and, often times, your office shows it. Piles of papers, heaps of office supply materials, and numerous free gifts and awards are everywhere! You may not recognize that your office reflects how you are seen by others. Sloppy office = sloppy leader; organized office = organized leader. And this assessment often times occurs before folks have met you! You may not feel you have time to clean your office, after all, who really cares? Here’s the reality – everyone cares and everyone notices. You need to ensure your office reflects the type of leader you would like to be. Sloppy office = sloppy leader; organized office = winner!

Make sure your whiteboard changes

Many offices have beautiful and large whiteboards centered on a key wall. Similar to your office maintenance reflecting the type of leader you are, your whiteboard reflects what’s in your head. Don’t let information that you wrote months ago continue to be posted as folks will think you have not had a new thought since then. Utilize modern technology – take a picture of your whiteboard, clean it off, and continue to utilize it to show folks that you are thinking about today and tomorrow, not yesterday.

Get back to everyone, all of the time

This is a significant behavioral area that you may not think reflects upon you on a daily basis. Folks may reach out to you for some information, and then they don’t hear back from you for days, if at all. If there were one behavior I would change in corporate environments, it would be ensuring you get back to people, regardless of what you say, at all times. If a colleague reaches out to you with a question and you don’t have time to investigate the matter, that’s okay. Just send your colleague a quick note like, “Hi Mary. I’m offsite today at an all-day client meeting. I will get back to you tomorrow.” Any answer is better than no answer, because if you don’t answer folks in a reasonable time (i.e., 24-hours), they will only work around you and your value in your organization will slowly decay.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

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Have you listened to Ed’s new podcast called Be Brave @ Work? It’s all about saying what needs to be said and doing what needs to be done. Listen here!

Ed’s book Raise Your Visibility & Value: Uncover the Lost Art of Connecting on the Job is available here!

Ed Evarts is the founder and president of Excellius Leadership Development, an organization focused on coaching mid- to senior- level leaders and their teams in business environments. With over twenty-five years of innovative leadership and management experience, Ed possesses the ability to build awareness, create action, and deliver results. Known for his business acumen, his ability to resolve complex human relations issues, and his enthusiastic, accessible and responsive style, Ed partners with managers, leaders and business teams to explore clarity and communication, and traverse conflict and change.

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