The quickest way to impress people with your managerial confidence is to have a clean, or at least orderly destktop. On one occasion my boss's boss was scheduled to meet with me in my office - his way of trying to make me feel comfortable. Of course, I was really nervous!
At the last minute I noticed quite a few piles of paper were on my desk - it looked messy. So I gathered up most of them and stuck them in a drawer, leaving just a few papers to show that work was really underway.
The first thing my boss's boss said (after hello) was how tidy my desk was. He turned to his assistant and pointed out that a tidy desk showed that things were under control! I gulped back any disclaimer and smiled.
Actually, keeping your desk clear, that is, papers in folders that are filed in a meaningful sequence, does help maintain your control over work. This happy moment in the middle of my career made me pay attention to any incidences of growing chaos on my desktop. By taking the time to sort through all those "really important" or "just a reminder" pieces of paper, I learned to organize my work to minimize clutter. If nothing else, I felt that same sense of confidence others could see from the visible evidence of order.
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