Developing this ONE SIMPLE morning habit helped me get promoted to the Senior Leadership team at Nike

If you feel like you aren’t visible enough to people in your office, you need to develop this one habit.

And honestly, it is so simple that literally anyone can do it. 

It requires very minimal effort and being consistent with it can totally change your career. Problem is, it requires so little effort that many people will think it’s not worth doing. 

Here’s how I discovered it.

When I worked for Nike, we had an open plan office. Most of us were on the same floor but some of our colleagues were on the floor below and a few were on the floor above. Our Marketing Director had a corner office, where the door was always open.

Due to the nature of the multi-floor set up, you would sometimes go a few days and not see some of your colleagues, even if they were in the office.

People would often say they hadn’t seen our Marketing Director for days - even though he'd been in his office the whole time.

Visbility was definitely a problem. 

Now you might be thinking ‘who cares? Why do I need to be visible?’

And I guess, you don’t have to be visible. 

But if you are a senior leader or you want to become a senior leader, being visible to the wider team is very important.

After a few years we got a new Marketing Director. 

And I noticed this thing she did that was so simple, it was astonishing to me that other senior leaders hadn’t done it.

Every morning, around 9.30am, when the majority of our Marketing team were in, this Marketing Director WALKED THE FLOORS.

For 15 minutes everyday, she walked around all the 3 floors that her team sat on. She walked past desks wishing everyone a Good Morning, asking how their weekends were, asking how projects were going and MAKING HERSELF VISIBLE.

It was so simple, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen any other senior leader do it.

By walking the floor everyday, she was making sure to connect with her team - even if just to say good-morning.

And what I noticed was no-one ever commented that they hadn’t seen our Marketing Director - even when she had been out of the office for a few days.

So I started to do the same.

While I wasn’t in a senior leadership position, I knew I wanted to be in one. 

And the dramatic difference I had seen in our Marketing Director’s visiblity convinced me I should do the same,

So I would get in in the morning, make a coffee and walk the floors, saying Good Morning to my colleagues and checking in to see how they were.

Six months later, I got the promoted to the Senior Leadership Team.

And while walking the floor wasn’t the sole reason for my promotion, I do know that - like our Marketing Director - it dramatically increased my visibility in the business. And that visibility kept me on people’s radars.

It is so simple. And yet it is so effective.

Honestly, I urge you to try it!

It can have a massive impact on your career and your place in the business.