Taking Initiative: The Key to Leadership and Success

Guys, in life, it's very important to take initiatives if you want to be a leader. So today I am going to talk about what is initiative, why is it important and what can we do in our practical lives to cultivate the muscle of initiative. So google defines initiative as follows: the power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do. Read the lines carefully, it's the power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do. Interesting, basically, do something before others do? I am not so much in sync with the definition from google, but taking charge is something we can highlight here. Another definition of initiative is this, from vocabulary.com, "Initiative is all about taking charge. An initiative is the first in a series of actions. Initiative can also mean a personal quality that shows a willingness to get things done and take responsibility." Initiative is all about taking charge. Highlight taking charge over here, and it's the first action in a series of action. It can also mean a personal quality within individuals that shows the willingness to get things done and take responsibility. We should remember this one thing, it's the willingness to get things done and take responsibility. So initiative is all about taking responsibility and getting things done right. This definition sounds perfect to me at the moment. Now let's take a look at what people have said about initiative in the past.

Let's carefully analyse these words, "Initiative is doing the right thing without being told." Read the sentence again, and again and again. It's all about doing the right thing without being told. For an example, if a friend is not well, you should go ahead and get him/her medicines without being told. If there exists a problem at your work, go ahead and solve the problem without being told what to do. That's what initiative is all about. There might be something you need to automate at work, go ahead and do it. No need to ask permission, just go ahead and do it, if that's the right thing to do. That is what initiative really is. 

Although this is not just about initiative, they say that the 4 corners tones of a character, is initiative, imagination, individuality and independence. When we think about it, initiative, independence and individuality are strongly correlated. But one factor to add here is imagination, one must have a wild imagination and believe that they can do something through taking initiatives and acting on it. Imagine what would the nation be if no one initiated the process of construction of tall rise buildings and wonderful roads. What would the nation be if no one initiated building dams and electricity. Imagine what would the nation be if no one initiated the process of creating chairs and tables, possibly you would never be sitting on the chair on which you are sitting right now. So initiating is the reason why the world is existing. Life would be nothing without our imagination and initiatives, so go ahead and this is the very reason to take whatever initiative you wish to take. 

A lot of times we think that we have lived xyz number of years without taking initiative, but you know what its fine, taking initiative is the decision you can make today. If you want to climb a mountain, don't ask anyone do it. Take the initiative to ask your friends to join you probably and if they say no join a Facebook group or a meet-up where you can really find people who are interested in mountain climbing and do it with them. If you want to go to travel to a particular place, go ahead and book your tickets. Whatever it is that you want to do, if you want to go to a Taylor swift concert, go ahead and book your tickets. Maybe you have a friend that you haven't spoken to in years, take the initiative to call them and talk to them. So it's within the moment that we take initiatives that's it. You just need to decide. 

Let's read this statement again, "Those who take initiative at work, do so not because they are stupid but because they understand the concept of responsibility." Wow, this is true, the concept of responsibility is equally very important. We are all responsible for our own lives and also responsible for what we do at work. Imagine we committed our deadline to be say, x amount of work to be completed within y amount of time, now that's a responsibility otherwise we will lose the project or lose some money that comes along. Imagine you have a child and your child woke up a little late and the school bus was left, so what happens then? It's your responsibility to drop your child to school right, no one thinks about initiative at that point in time, it's responsibility. So being responsible and taking initiative has a very strong correlation with each other as well. 

So now we know why is initiative so important, but what are some of the ways we can cultivate our habit of initiative?

1. Be proactive not reactive: If you know that there is a problem or there is an opportunity to solve a problem, go ahead and solve the problem. Don't wait for anyone to tell you to solve the problem, initiating is all about recognising the problem and going ahead and solving it without anyone telling you. For doing this, it's also very important to plan ahead of time and anticipate certain problems before they even come. 

2. Set Clear Goals: Imagine you want to set a goal of earning 200,000$ next year, naturally, this might or might not come easily. But let's say if you set that as a goal, your mind cannot help but think about the opportunities inorder to achieve that goal. You will see where can you find the opportunities to achieve the goal, you will be more aware of what you can do to achieve that goal and more importantly since you would be more aware, you would go ahead and grab your opportunity faster than anyone else does. 

3. Build Confidence: In order to build confidence, one has to overcome challenges, face fears and do what's required of them in the worst of the circumstances. Confidence does not come from saying you need to be confident but it comes from practice, practice taking more initiatives, wherever you can, if you want to start with a group of friends where you can initiate a badminton game, well that's a good start as well. If you can start with your family by planning a family vacation, that's a good start as well. Start small and then move ahead of your comfort area. 

4. Develop a plan: They say failing to plan is planning to fail. So before you take on a mission, plan what you are going to do with the mission. For example, let's say you take the mission of cooking tea, so you plan ahead okay, boil the water with tea leaves, add sugar, add milk and wait for the mixture to boil. Meanwhile you can add ginger and cardamom as well, but the process is the same. You need to plan certain things in your head, but for a bigger project like building a house, you need to plan really ahead of time, sometimes a year ahead. You need to find places where you can build a house, once that's done you need to develop a blue print or hire a contractor or an architect to develop a blue print of the house, you need to revisit the blue print multiple times to ensure that you will like the house and then go ahead with the execution right. So if a blue print is built for a house, then why not do it for life as well?

5. Communicate effectively: There might be situations in your life where you cannot just go ahead and execute the idea. You have to speak to the person in charge like a lead engineer, or an engineering manager to execute your idea. You need to share your idea with the person in charge in an assertive but a respectful way. They can also give you feedback about what you need to change in the idea or what can be better, this is a great way to initiate the idea as well. 

6. Be persistent: Once you have taken the initiative, you will find road blocks, you will find obstacles but be persistent in the face of problems. Find solutions of the problem and the road blocks you encounter. Being persistent with your goals will help you achieve them, know that all execution has some road blocks and obstacles but when you are being persistent more often than not you will find the solution to your problem. Remember the old saying goes, "Try and try till you succeed."

There might be even more practical ways, but my simple and honest point over here, is these points won't matter if you don't proactively practice taking initiatives. Go ahead and take any initiative that you want to take whether that's at work or whether that's in your personal life, taking initiative will go a long way in your life.