Before you begin thinking this idea is about firing every staff member, let me give some background.

After several years of accumulating “stuff” in my office, it was time to do some deep cleaning. Several trips to the dumpster, a can of wood cleaner, and about 5 hours of time, created a much cleaner and healthier work environment. However, there were some reasons more related to leadership underlying the decision to clean house.

1) Perception is reality. As leaders, we need to consider the perception others may have of who we are by the way our office looks. Is the perception sloppy or neat? Lazy or diligent? Indifferent or serious?

2) Appearance communicates volumes. As much as we may not like to think about it, the appearance of our work environment communicates priorities, time management, and professionalism.

3) Morale increases with organization. Knowing the office space where I work is cleaner and more organized makes it more exciting for me to be in the office. An increase in productivity should be the result.

If we, as leaders, would do a little house cleaning occasionally, we might find a healthier leadership.