Harvey McKay is a successful author, speaker and business owner. In his book "Dig Your Well Before You Are Thirsty" he describes in some detail how he earned his promotions up through the ranks at his employer.

Harvey started at the very bottom; his first paid job was managing a broom, and he was assigned the task of sweeping both the production floor and warehouse for his employer.

Being a bright person, Harvey thought about what it would take to distinguish himself from all of the other employees at the company. He not only wanted to do the right things, he wanted to do the right things right.

The very first thing he did was make sure that he was early to work. Harvey knew that by being early he was setting himself apart from others who also wanted to move up.

He then, from his first day on the job, demonstrated a sense of professional and personal responsibility. In his mind he owned the cleanliness of the floor that he was assigned. What happened was unexpected but welcomed: because Harvey accepted responsibility for doing a good job, every day, his immediate supervisor didn't need to micromanage him to make sure that the job was getting done. That allowed the supervisor to spend more time elsewhere. This defined Harvey as an employee who supported his supervisor.