Leading With Initiative

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  Do something.

  Note: This article is an excerpt from the “Stocking Your Leadership Super-Powers” book. Enter your info in the sidebar and I’ll send you the e-book free of charge.

  A leader that takes a lot of initiative is someone who takes massive amounts of determined action. People that take lots of initiative are also known as “self-starters.”

  Initiating a task basically means setting it into motion, or getting it rolling. People like initiators because it shows them that you are passionate and that you are willing to start moving in the right direction. It only works if they are cool with what you’re initiating, though.

  If you don’t initiate, people will see that you’re not a doer and that you need others to initiate for you.

  By reading this report, you are taking a step in the right direction to initiate, or start getting a conscious handle on, your leadership super-powers.

  The Initiation Challenge

  One of the greatest challenges as a leader is trying to get people to take the first step on something. A lot of times people’s fears get in the way, and they can’t come up with a definitive way to start something comfortably.

  When I worked as a writing consultant, students would come to me all the time with no clue of where they should start their paper.

  Essentially, they gave up their power of initiation and said, “where should I start?” In return, they would sit and expect me to give them directives of what to do, which I didn’t. But it definitely caused come confusion in terms of the role I was supposed to play.

  When you ask questions like “where should I start,” you immediately give up your power of leadership. If you give someone else the full authority to tell you how to initiate, you are setting yourself up as the inferior. You show the other person that you can’t or don’t want to think for yourself, and your power of influence is minimized.

  The Power of Self Initiation

  When you initiate something on your own, you build self-confidence and take ownership of what happens afterward.

  If you don’t start heading in the right direction for your career, who will?

  If you don’t start heading in the right direction for your relationships, who will?

  And so on.

  You have to take responsibility and get the ball rolling by setting your plans into action. You have to find out what you can and should do now to get started.

  Super Initiative Building Activity:

  Part of taking initiative is figuring out what the first step is and then completing it.

  If you’re going on a trip, the first step is to map out what’s going to happen on the trip.

  If you’re going to ask someone out on the date, map out how you’re going to ask them on a date.

  What’s the first step once you’ve completed mapping the trip? Getting in the car and driving to where you need to go.

  What’s the first step once you’ve completed mapping your date request? Call or meet up with the person you’re going to ask on the date.

  The first step is crucial because if you don’t take action and make the first step, you won’t be able to make any of the steps that come after it.

  Answer the following questions about initiative:

  Question #1: What can I do to get the ball rolling towards my vision of my relationships?

  Question #2: What can I do to get the ball rolling towards my vision of my career?

  Question #3: What can I do to get the ball rolling towards my vision of my finances?

  Question #4: What can I do to get the ball rolling towards my vision of my health?

  Question #5: What can I do to get the ball rolling towards my vision of my education?

  Question #6: What can I do to get the ball rolling towards my vision of my spirituality?