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​Initiative

​​​​​LEADING WITH CHARACTER!

​​“Initiative is The Start of All Good Things. Your ship will never come in if you don’t send any out. Have you ever found yourself dreaming, hoping, and waiting passively for things to change or for your life to get better?”

Susan C. Young 

Listen to Story 1. ​

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Introduction 

Well, this lady took the initiative all right, but she apparently missed some very important steps that should always precede any attempt to initiate an action. As Chippie would probably attest, the outcome, at least for him, would have been better if she had approached her cage-cleaning endeavor with a little foresight. 

It appears that Chippie’s owner made a snap judgment, while in the process of a vacuuming chore, to clean his cage. Without further thought, she just stuck the vacuum hose in the cage and then allowed herself to become distracted by a phone call. Her decision to split her attention on two tasks was unwise and her decision-making process only got worse as she progressed through her fiasco. 

The result was, perhaps, like the results many of us have envisioned when considering taking initiative and performing a task which is not necessarily in our job description and for which we are not quite ready at that time. This story is a good reminder for all of us that a snap decision to take the initiative and start an action without a plan is seldom a good idea. 

To minimize the likelihood of falling victim to our own ill-conceived snap judgments, we should develop a habit pattern to serve us in our approach to any task: 

          * Practice planning and thinking ahead.
          * Develop and maintain a state of mental and physical awareness.
          * Mentally rehearse each task that is to be performed.
          * Perform only those tasks for which the first 3 steps have been                      accomplished. 

To possess and exercise effective initiative, one must not only be capable of performing a given task, one must be able to see what needs to be done and be willing to find a way to make it happen with some modicum of safety for the rest of God’s creation. 

People with initiative are masters of their own destiny. Those lacking initiative often become victims of their own undoing. 

Initiative 

Initiative is the ability to use our judgment to make decisions and do things without needing to be told what to do. It is a personal quality that shows a willingness to get things done and take responsibility. 

In order to improve our ability to effectively take the initiative when opportunities arise and employ proper procedures/actions to obtain beneficial results, there are certain things which we can do to better ready ourselves. 

Always Be Prepared – We need to tackle new skills and refine our abilities continuously. We learn and grow by challenging ourselves. Preparing ourselves for any eventuality will give us the knowledge and confidence to show more initiative in current or upcoming projects. It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared. That is why we should aim high and constantly grow both as individuals and as team members. Then, whenever we see an opportunity to use the acquired competence, we should not hesitate to do so. 

Believe in Ourselves – If we firmly believe in something we are doing, we will not be dissuaded by criticism. Many successful people’s ideas were initially considered to be unworthy and doomed to failure, but they persisted and won. If we have a firm foundation for certifying the success of our ideas, then we can do our best to convince others of its worthiness. Each situation may require a different approach. We simply select the best one to promote our ideas, depending on the alterables and constraints of our situation. 

Think as Team Members – We can’t usually care about and devote ourselves fully to something that we don’t consider as ours. If we think of ourselves as team members (which we are), then what is ours belongs to the team also, and what is the team’s belongs to us. Team prosperity will lead to our personal prosperity too. As soon as we establish this mindset, we will start caring about each detail and dedicating all our efforts to achieving profound shared outcomes. 

Consider Every Opportunity – Opportunities are hidden everywhere, and people who see them are the ones who succeed. We should make a habit of constantly asking ourselves, “What opportunities for growth can I carve out of this situation?” If required, we ask ourselves this same question again and again. Gradually we will find answers. We may see a chance to show our unique professional abilities. We will eventually uncover an opportunity, which fits our talents, abilities, and preparation, and which will open new horizons for us and our team. All we need to do is analyze and act. 

Do More Than is Required – Ability to perfectly implement the delegated tasks is, of course, an important quality for being effective. There may be plenty of people on our team who share that ability, so this alone won’t give us the opportunity to stand out. Do we want to be exceptional? Then we must act exceptional. We must try to do something extra all the time. One important rule is to concentrate on areas of greatest need, where we can generate the most visible and remarkable results. 

In order to understand the challenges that face us as we strive to develop our initiative trait, we need to be aware that there may be certain forces working against us. The following represent some common barriers to initiative. 

Why take initiative in solving our problems when we have the fashionable option of blaming our parents, our spouse, our friends, our employer, our teachers, our pastors, our government, and/or our God for our problems? It is much easier to sit and complain about the unfairness of life than it is to take corrective action ourselves. For every person who has failed at life because of a (fill in the blank), there are those who have faced worse challenges and initiated a way to make life better. Our current circumstances do not determine who we are. On the contrary, it is who we are that will ultimately determine our circumstances. 

Another alternative to taking initiative is to settle into a fantastic dream of some better future that will just happen to us. Someday, somehow, Lord willing, my life will improve. Someday, somehow, what I want will come to pass. Someday, somehow, I’ll find myself in much better circumstances. We have all undoubtedly known passive dreamers, who had very lofty goals, but never seemed to take action to reach them. They were unwilling to endure the discomfort that must be endured in making things happen. 

Taking initiative finds another challenge in our tendency to procrastinate. I’ll do it later! Abraham Lincoln used to remark that he could get any number of men “willing to shed their last drop of blood”, but he found it difficult to find men to shed their first drop to initiate the process. 

Let’s not talk about what we are going to do by and by; let’s do what we’re going to do now. 

A final challenge to taking initiative is making excuses. “If I go there, I might meet a (fill in the blank) somewhere along the way and end up dead! I might get murdered in the streets.” There will always be frightening responsibilities. There will always be overwhelming challenges. There will always be heartbreaking disappointments. However, the person with initiative will look at the situation, think through it, consider the options, devise a plan, and implement the plan to the best of his or her ability. 

Conclusion 

Good leaders don’t wait for someone to tell them to do something. They see a challenge or an opportunity and make sure it’s taken care of right away. Without initiative, leaders are simply workers in leadership positions. 

We don’t take the initiative for any recognition or for any glory that may be associated with it. We do it to help the team and accomplish the mission. We need to take the initiative by actively looking for challenges on our team, that have yet to be met, and coming up with our own solutions. 

Initiative and creativity move the world. They foster the implementation of innovative ideas in various fields of endeavor and contribute to constant development of better ways to do things. And there is a great demand in all endeavors for energetic team players who are inventive and enterprising enough to be proactive in everything they do. 

Those of us who show initiative demonstrate that we can think for ourselves and take action when necessary. That means we use our heads and have the drive to achieve. Showing initiative means we do things without being told; we find out what we need to know, we keep going when things get tough, and we spot and take advantage of opportunities that others pass by. We act, instead of reacting, at work and in life. 

Think outside the box, try new things, and consider new solutions to existing problems. Improvise, Adapt, Overcome! 

Listen to  Story 2. 

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“Initiative can neither be created nor delegated. It can only spring from the self-determining individual, who decides that the wisdom of others is not always better than his own.”

R. Buckminster Fuller

 

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