Initiative

The ability to take Initiative depends on knowing yourself and being self-motivated to make a difference in those arenas that are important to you. Having a vision or being farsighted about where there are opportunities that others may not see opens the path for initiative. For example, being enthusiastic about a project at work and having thoughts about how it might provide a breakthrough in a problem your team is facing sets the stage for taking initiative. Seeing ways you might make a difference in your community sets the stage for taking initiative.

If any of these behaviors are true of you or associates with whom you work, you’ll find action tips at EQDashboard.com:

• Procrastinates when unsure or risk is involved; doesn’t follow through
• Waits for others to take the lead
• Fails to muster the support needed to follow through with a plan
• Reacts to events as they happen
• Operates in continual crisis mode

Action learning tips and learning assignments on the job are a click away at EQDashboard.com.

You might also consider (a sampling of suggestions from EQDashboard.com):

Burkhard, Gudrun. Taking Charge: Your Life Patterns and Their Meaning. Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books, 1998.

Nelson, Bob. 1001 Ways to Take Initiative at Work. New York: Workman, 1999.

Smith, Douglas K. Taking Charge of Change: Ten Principles for Managing People and Performance. New York: Basic Books, 1997.