The Element of Taking the Initiative and Its Hope for Being a Star At Work and In Life

Susan moved into a new position. It was previously held by an experienced, well-respected and liked person. Everyone wondered whether she would be a good fit. She did not have the necessary experience.  People also noticed she had had little or no cross-training with her predecessor. Yet Susan was quite nonchalant.  “She is being too cavalier” one of her team-mates commented to another team-mate behind Susan’s back.  Susan looked set to fail.  One day, shortly after Susan had taken the job, there was a situation in her department. Due to a problem, two of her team-mates missed a key deadline.  Though Susan was only indirectly involved in their work, she called a meeting to discuss why the deadline had been missed and offered to help them out.  At the end of the meeting, Susan suggested to her boss that the team hold regular staff meetings once a week so everyone on the team was aware of projects and deadlines.  Susan’s calling the meeting was a game-changer.  She had shown initiative and she demonstrated she was interested in taking steps to avoid future problems.  From that day, her manager and her team-mates looked at Susan differently. None of them doubted she was a strong asset to the team.

Mary was one of several people reporting to a very busy director.  The director was on the go a lot. As a result, he found it hard to keep track of his 9 reports and what they were working on. Projects inevitably got delayed. The director had no idea what was causing the delays. Mary, who was one of his reports, stepped up to the plate. She started a weekly status meeting to which she invited all 9 of her director’s reports. She asked them what they were working on and to state the issues and problems they were facing. Mary reported this information back to the director. The weekly reports provided by Mary were extremely helpful to the director and he began to rely on them. He gave her action items to take back to the next meeting. When he decided to leave the company, the director nominated Mary as his successor. She got the job even though she had been on the team for a shorter time than some of her peers and had less seniority than them.

John was taken on to temporarily assist a team with some work which had been neglected and which no one had time for.  The work was quite complex and many people doubted John would be able to handle it.  He surprised everyone by excelling at the work in no time. Moreover, he showed interest in improving the processes and called several meetings to implement necessary changes. John did such a good job, the work was assigned to him permanently. Everyone agreed that no one could do the work better than John.

Now you may think these are made up stories.

Surprise….they are not.

They are true stories that I have encountered during the course of my assignments.

I have changed some of the names and the distinguishing details, but each of the stories is true.

Now I have a question for you.....

What is the common thread in each of these stories?

What did Susan, Mary and John all do?

Answer: They stepped up to the plate and took the initiative.

In doing so, they became instant stars.

It is no secret - there may not be a better or faster way to make an impression than to take the initiative.

To spot a situation or problem and jump in unasked to help solve it.

Such as the missed deadline that Susan stepped up to address.

Or the director's busy schedule which Mary found an answer for.

Or the neglected work that John took it upon himself to master and improve.

What busy people and problems need most is someone to take the initiative.

This is why hiring managers, who are usually busy people with problems, look for clues to a potential hire's initiative.

Don, the General Manager of Solution Partners told me just that in so many words.  He said the reason he took a chance and recruited me to join his Xactly implementation team, was because I had shown initiative by paying out of my own pocket to do the Xactly course.

What stops us from taking the initiative?

Often, we think it may not be worth it.

We think “what’s the point!”

We want an advance assurance that the initiative will pay off.

But even though there are no advance assurances, 9 times out of 10 initiative pays off.

Susan’s story, Mary’s story, John's story and my own story all prove it.

I like being a Commissions Consultant because I am forced to take the initiative again and again.

All my assignments are temporary. They come to an end. 

Some end in 2 months such as my Paypal assignment, some end in 4 months such as my Epicor assignment, some end in 6 months such as my Varian Medical assignment, and some end in 9 months like my White Hat Security assignment, but one thing is certain - they all end. 

When they end, I am forced to take the initiative to find another assignment, and then I am forced to take the initiative to prove myself on my next assignment. 

This keeps me on my toes.  I like that.  I like the fact there is no resting on my laurels, or getting complacent.

Similarly, I took the initiative when I started this blog.

Every week, I am challenged to take the initiative and write a new post for the blog.

I like that.

My blog, like my consulting work, keeps me on my toes.

I notice initiative wins the admiration of others.

I am now on my 268th post.

When I tell people how many posts I have written, they are filled with admiration.

This is because they know how much initiative it must have taken me to write 268 posts.

As I said, hiring managers look for initiative in people.

Let me tell you a story about my daughter Tanita.

A month ago, she decided she was tired of her ice-cream job and wanted a change.

So she applied to a restaurant where some of her friends worked and she was called in for an interview.

Tanita was really excited about this interview. She looked forward to making a good impression and getting hired.

Unfortunately, the interview was a non-starter. As soon as it began, the manager said, “Tanita, are you available to do morning shifts?” “No,” said Tanita, “I am not. I have to go to college.” The manager said, “Well, then, I see no point in continuing this interview. We currently have vacancies only for the morning shifts.  I am sorry and thank you for your time.” He didn’t even give Tanita a chance to say anything about herself and he dashed her hopes in the first two minutes.  Tanita was terribly disappointed.  But then her initiative took over.  Realizing she was dressed for an interview, Tanita decided to drive to another restaurant a few blocks away and ask for a job over there. When she got to the restaurant and told the girl at the front desk she was there to meet the manager about a job, the girl said to her, “Oh, you have to apply online and then the manager will call you for an interview if she is interested.” “Yes, but can I speak to her for a few minutes,” persisted Tanita. So the girl went and got the manager. Tanita told the manager how keen she was to work there and quickly gave her the details about her academic and professional background. She made an impression on the manager, because when she finished talking, the manager said to her, “Apply online and I will call you in for an interview later this week.”

Right enough, Tanita came home and applied online and got an interview call from the restaurant almost immediately.  Her initiative had paid off.  She is now working at the restaurant.  It might never have happened so quickly, had she not taken the initiative to walk into the restaurant and speak with the manager that day.

We often look at someone who has gotten somewhere, and make the  mistake of thinking “how lucky she is” or “how lucky he is”. We don’t know that what got them there might not have had anything to do with luck at all. 

My previous career in India was in advertising copy.  What people don’t know is I was unemployed for a full 9 months between my first job and my second job.  During those 9 months, I must have knocked on every advertising door in the city. I went to the biggest agencies and the smallest print shops. It was after 15-18 different companies turned me down, that I got a yes from a mid-size agency. They hired me on a 3 months probationary basis. As the end of the 3 months was nearing, it was still not clear I was going to be made permanent. Then I ran into Lydia, who was the executive assistant to Bunty, the general manager of MAA, an established national agency.  She said to me, “Hey, Minoo, you did a copy test with us. We sent you a follow up letter to come and meet us because we liked your copy test, but we never heard back from you.”  I had changed addresses and their letter had not reached me.  “Is it too late – has the job been filled?” I asked her.  “No, it isn’t” she said.  I was thrilled. So I went to MAA and they hired me.  And my fledgling copywriting career was on solid ground again, but it was after a harrowing 11 months of uncertainty.

When you take the initiative, you never know what it might lead to.

Some years ago, I went to get the mail from my mailbox, when I ran into one of the people who lived in our apartments. She was dressed in a track suit and gym shoes and a baseball cap. I had never talked to her before, but on this day, I decided to take the initiative to talk to her.  I said, “Are you going for a walk?” because that’s what it looked like to me. She immediately stopped in her tracks, and in the friendliest of voices, she replied “Yes, I am…I am headed to Palo Alto with a friend. We are going to walk one of the trails there.  Want to join us?” Just like that, a stranger had invited me to accompany her on a walk. I was delighted, but since I had to work that day, I said, “I have to work today, but if you are going some other time, I would love to join you.” “Sure,” she said, “Me and my friend walk 2-3 times a week. You can join us.  Which apartment do you live in?  I will come by and tell you when we are going next”. So I gave her my name and my apartment number.  A few days later, I was passing by an apartment, and I heard a voice calling, “Manoo. Manoo”. It was her.  She came out to the patio and said,“Manoo, do you want to go for a walk today?  It will be just you and me, because Steve can’t come.  We can walk on the trail in our area.” I said yes.  It was the start of an amazing walking partnership that has lasted 4 years and is still going strong. Becky and I have walked about 2500 miles together and we are still going. Walking is one of my most favorite things to do. So you can imagine how glad I am I took the initiative to ask Becky if she was going for a walk on that day 4 years ago.

Initiative can take various forms.

My post Meditations on the Weed contains several examples.

So does my post “How to Let Nothing Come Between You and a Fulfilling Life”.

What does initiative involve?

Robert E Kelly say, in his book How to be a Star at Work, initiative has 4 elements.

The first element is doing something beyond your job description.

The second is helping other people.

The third involves taking on some risk.

And the forth is seeing an activity through completion.

Putting something in the suggestion box is not initiative.

Neither is focusing on our own individual needs.

Kelly says when we focus on the project’s needs, not on our needs – that’s when we can call it initiative.

Initiative doesn’t have to be connected with work alone.

If we care about something deeply, we can think about taking the initiative to do something about it.

My friend Anita is an animal lover and she takes every opportunity to speak up on behalf of animals.

She even wrote a book promoting vegetarianism and self-published it on Amazon to get her message out.

You can read my review of her book here.

Animal lovers and vegetarians across the world, I am sure, are grateful for people like Anita who speak up for animals.

As Kelly says, initiative involves helping other people.

Because of this, gratitude is one of the outcomes of taking the initiative.

When we take the initiative, people are grateful.

Tell me, isn’t it true we are all grateful to Ajay for taking the initiative to host the MAAite meets?

They have turned out to be much look forwarded to events.

Yes, gratitude is one of the outcomes of taking the initiative.

So with all the pluses of initiative - opportunity, recognition, promotion and gratitude, what is there to hold us back?

Nothing.

We should take the initiative every chance we get.

Before I end this post, I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have taken the initiative to write original content for my blog.

Thank you Ajay for: A Short Stint in Advertising, Oh Bangalore, The Wonderful World of PG. Wodehouse and Cricket Glorious Cricket.

Thank you Cindy for: Letters to Lucas, Flying Lessons, Laundry Day and more.

Thank you Anita for: A Fresh Perspective on Pets.

Thank you Jacinta for: A Facebook Face-off and Kushboo.

Thank you to all the other guest-posters for giving me permission to publish your writing on my blog.

And finally, thank you dear reader for taking the initiative to read my blog.  I know there are a lot of different things competing for your attention, so I am so very grateful for every post that you have read. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I will end this post with this quote:

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.”

It is so true.

We only have to take the initiative and somehow things miraculously fall into place.

As always, thanks for reading and have a great day and week….M…..a Pearl Seeker like you.  Thanks to Ajay and Ananda for their comments on Facebook, and thanks to the rest of you for your pins and votes.  Much appreciated.