How to Develop Initiative
The good news is that initiative is a skill that you can develop. You can do this by following these steps:
1. Develop a Career Plan
Research* has shown that people who have a long-term career plan are more likely to take initiative. Professionals who know what they want and where they want to go are far more likely to show initiative at work, especially when the action or decision will help them further their career goals. Develop this plan.
Also, make sure that you understand your job, and your team and your organization's purpose, so that you know what you should be achieving. See our articles on Job Analysis, Team Charters and Mission and Vision Statements for more on this.
Once you know what you want to achieve, integrate your career goals with your personal goals, so that you have something to work towards. (In your personal life, the key to developing initiative is to set clear personal goals, and then to work steadily towards achieving them.)
2. Build Self-Confidence
It can take courage and a strong sense of self to show initiative, especially if you fear that people may disagree with your actions or suggestions.
First, take our quiz, "How Self-Confident Are You?" The results will give you a good idea of your confidence levels right now. Then, if you need to, take steps to build your self-confidence.
For instance, set small goals so you can achieve some quick wins. And push yourself to do (positive) things that you'd otherwise be scared to do - this will not only help you build your self-confidence, but it will help you build the courage to accomplish bigger, scarier tasks later on.
You might also want to read our article on Positive Thinking. This, along with Visualization, can help you build your self-confidence even further.
Tip:
Some people have a real fear of speaking up, or of taking any action that's not yet authorized by the leadership team, because they're afraid of failure or rejection. If this sounds like you, see our article on overcoming fear of failure to learn how to manage your fears.
3. Spot Opportunities and Potential Improvements
People who show initiative often do so by spotting and acting on opportunities that their colleagues or leaders have not noticed. They're curious about their organization and how it works, and they keep their minds open to new ideas and new possibilities.
You should always be on the lookout for areas in your organization that could use improvement. To spot opportunities and potential improvements, consider the following from the problem-finding stage of the Simplex Process:
What would our customers (internal and external) want us to improve? What could they be doing better if we could help them? How can we improve quality?
Who else could we help by using our core competences?
What small problems do we have that could grow into bigger ones?
What slows our work or makes it more difficult? What do we often fail to achieve? Where do we have bottlenecks? What is frustrating and irritating to people on our team?
Get into the habit of looking for these things - perhaps set a repeating appointment in your diary to remind you to look for them; and, when things go wrong, think about how you can fix them.
Tip:
For more on implementing your ideas, see our articles on the Simplex Process and on turning your idea into reality.
4. Sense-Check Your Ideas
Imagine that you've come up with a creative way of breaking through a bottleneck in your customer service process. Before you head straight to your boss with your idea, stop and do some homework. Think about the costs and risks associated with the idea. (Tools like Cost/Benefit Analysis, Risk Analysis and Impact Analysis will help here.)
Where the cost of the project and the consequences of something going wrong are small, consider going ahead with your idea directly, while keeping your boss "in the loop" (how far you should do this depends on your relationship with your boss). Where risks or costs are more significant, consider preparing a business case, and ask for authorization before you go ahead.
You've already shown initiative by coming up with a solution. Make sure that you follow this through by doing your homework on the idea. The more you have researched and considered your ideas, the higher your chances of success will be.
5. Develop Rational Persistence
Persistence is the art of moving forward even when you encounter inertia or difficulty. People who show initiative often encounter difficulties and setbacks along the way, so rational persistence (where you listen to, consider, and appropriately modify your direction depending on other people's input) is essential if you want to achieve what you've set out to do.
When you're persisting with your idea, you'll find things much easier if you learn how to manage change effectively - this can often make the difference between success and failure for a project. It's also helpful to learn how to open closed minds, since people may already have an opinion on a subject before you even start presenting your idea.
6. Find Balance
While it's important to take initiative, it's just as important to be wise in the way that you use it. In some situations, it can be inappropriate to take initiative, and people who generate too much extra work for other people can upset others.
For instance, you might have worked with a colleague who was "gung-ho" about every idea. He was constantly pushing the team, and your boss, to lead the next project or to implement a new idea. However, some of his ideas were naïve, his persistence in taking the initiative often crossed the line into aggressiveness, and perhaps the team felt that he "rocked the boat" too much at a time when other team members were overloaded.
This is why it's so important to learn good decision-making techniques. The more you enhance these skills, the better you'll be at judging when an idea is good, and it isn't. This way, you can develop a reputation both for initiative and for good judgment - an invaluable combination!
You'll also want to develop your emotional intelligence skills. It's helpful to know how to read the emotions of others. This sensitivity can help you further decide when to take initiative, and when it's best to let things be.
